Return home and do your best to stop the losing streak

After a one-week interval, the league Sec. 7 will be held. We will face Nagoya Grampus at home. The league has seen four consecutive losses. Including the Nabisco Cup, the last victory was on 3/23 against Kashima (Nabisco Qualifying Sec. 2). Although the match content is considered 'good', we have been away from victory for about a month. That is why, during this one week, the players have been searching for the causes of their defeats and working on detailed corrections.

We will continue to stick to our style of football and aim for victory, but we will once again regain our awareness of the goal, pressing from the front line, strength in duels, and quick transitions as we head into this match.

Nagoya has 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, placing them in 4th place. Although they didn't start off strong, they have improved their form during actual matches and are currently on a three-game winning streak, with one draw in between, showing significant progress. They faced Nagoya again in the Nabisco Cup on April 3rd, which ended in a scoreless draw, but the current situations of both teams can be said to be contrasting.

Still, Tokyo will approach the match with the same starting lineup as the previous game, based on the confidence gained from the match against Sendai. Nagoya, despite coming on as a substitute in the last match, will have FW Kennedy starting for the first time this season after recovering from injury. This match aims for victory by surpassing Nagoya's advantage of "height" with a sense of unity in both offense and defense, as well as aggression.

The cold was severe, and light rain began to fall at Ajinomoto. The match started at 14:04 with Nagoya's kickoff.

Although they conceded the first goal, they equalized with Lucas's penalty just before the end of the first half.

From the start, they moved the ball quickly and approached the Nagoya goal from the sides. In the 3rd minute, from a right throw-in, Lucas sent a cross that Watanabe met with a right-footed shot in front of the goal. In the 5th minute, Tokunaga passed to Lucas, who had broken free on the right front, and found Higashi open in the center of the area. It was a great scoring opportunity, but Higashi's direct shot went wide of the target.

After that, Tokyo maintained possession of the ball and took control, but Nagoya calmly transitioned from defense to attack. In the 25th minute, Yonemoto made a long pass from the left side of the midfield to the right area. Here, Lucas broke free and controlled the ball with a trap, but immediately after, he was blocked by a defender and couldn't shoot. From here, Nagoya launched a swift counterattack, with midfielder Yano advancing on the right and delivering a cross. This was headed away by Kaga for a corner kick, but Nagoya would push forward from here.

In the 28th minute, Nagoya's right cross was dropped by FW Kennedy, and MF Ogawa, who ran into the area from behind, took a shot from close range, but Gonda made the save! In the 30th minute, Gonda punched away a right corner kick from Nagoya, but it connected to MF Ogawa just outside the left area, leading to a sharp cross from MF Danielson. From there, FW Kennedy scored with a high header in front of the goal. They were unable to stop Nagoya's momentum and conceded the first goal.

However, today in Tokyo, they expressed a strong spirit in their play and launched a counterattack. In the 33rd minute, Watanabe dove in to head a cross from Tokunaga. In the 34th minute, Higashi cut his forehead in a challenge with a Nagoya DF and temporarily left the pitch but returned quickly. In the 39th minute, Morishige advanced into the right area and delivered a sharp cross. It hit the DF, and although it was deflected by the goalkeeper's punch, Watanabe in the center reacted to the loose ball and shot. It seemed that a Nagoya DF in the area blocked it with his hand, but there was no whistle.

However, in the first half stoppage time, an attack originating from the side would bear fruit. In the 90th minute +4, Nagoya's DF committed a foul against Tokunaga, who had broken through behind the right area, resulting in a penalty kick. The penalty kick taken by Lucas grazed the hand of Nagoya GK Narazaki and went into the bottom left corner. They equalized before the end of the first half, bringing the match back to square one as they headed into the second half.

In the second half, a penalty kick was awarded, Watanabe pulled ahead, and the intense match ended in a comeback victory.

In the second half, we focused and entered the match, creating a big chance early on. In the 48th minute, Watanabe intercepted a back pass from the Nagoya defender, carried the ball into the right area, and took a shot. This went wide, but in the following 50th minute, a quick passing sequence from Ota to Higashi to Takumi HASEGAWA in midfield led to Morishige charging into the left area. He was fouled and won another penalty kick. This time, Lucas calmly converted it, successfully taking the lead!

Tokyo, having completely grasped the rhythm, saw Hayato HASEGAWA make a cross from the left flank in the 59th minute. Lucas in the center of the area connected with a precise header, but it went straight to the GK. However, from here, the Nagoya GK threw the ball to the left side of his own half. Tokunaga applied fierce pressure on the Nagoya DF who received the ball, winning it back and sending a pass to the center. Watanabe controlled it with a single touch, carried it outside, and struck a curling shot with his right foot into the near post for a goal!!

As they extended their lead, in the 63rd minute, Hyun Soo JANG came in as a center back to replace Ota, who had injured his foot. The formation was changed with Kaga as the right side back and Tokunaga on the left, but they connected from a calm defense to sharp counters. In the 68th minute, Lucas advanced through the center with a dribble. He received a return pass from Higashi, who broke through on the right flank, and took a precise shot from the center of the area, but hit the post...

In the 73rd minute, Yonehira connected from the DF line, and Takahashi made a through pass to the front line. Lee, who came on as a substitute, timed his run but the ball was just a bit too long. They couldn't score the fourth goal, but on the other hand, warnings were issued one after another for fouls by both teams, and in the 85th minute, Nagoya's MF Taguchi received a second warning and was sent off. However, Tokyo maintained their composure, assessed the situation well, and closed out the match. They achieved a comeback victory, stopping their losing streak with a win for the first time since Sec. 2 of the league.


[Player Comments]
《Lucas》"Even at this age, I still get nervous during penalty kicks. I've taken about 15 to 16 penalties in the J-League, but I remember missing only once in the past, and that was against Nagoya. The opposing GK was Narazaki. That memory crossed my mind today, but I also had confidence in scoring, so I kicked it harder than usual. The GK Narazaki touched it, but I was able to take the second penalty with more composure."

Aside from the penalty kick, I was able to make good plays on the right side in coordination with Tokunaga. I was also conscious of moving inside. I think the whole team was able to play well. The next league match is a 'Classico'. Both teams won this round, so our motivation should be high. However, since it's our home game, we want to fight together with the stands and absolutely win.

"Morishige" "In a situation where the team has lost four consecutive matches while trying to play good football, I was thinking about bringing out my strengths today. If you don't take risks, the opponent won't break down. So I wanted to add some accents, and for that, I tried to take on challenges. As a result, it went in a good direction, but taking risks can also lead to bad outcomes. Today, when I moved up, the two defensive midfielders were always watching the balance and providing support."

【Summary of the Coach's Press Conference】
"Coach Ranko POPOVIC" said, "The results are wonderful, and the content of the match was fantastic, showing both the quality of soccer and mental strength. I think it was a match that left some questions outside of soccer, but we want to continue to show soccer like today. We want to keep showing matches that combine quality and results."

I believe the club came together as one for this match, and it was the result of everyone fighting united. There were times when results did not come, but the fans and supporters firmly supported us. I am grateful for that, and I think that earning three points with such content is also a gift from the club.

"Director STOJKOVIC: First of all, I want to congratulate FC Tokyo. We brought fresh air to a team that has lost four consecutive matches. We delivered fresh oxygen. I think it is reasonable that we made many mistakes in this one match, which led to this result."