Sec. 21 Tama River Clasico, a hot match that blows away the cold

Entering the 8th round of the league, we will face Kawasaki Frontale at home as the 21st Tama River Classico. The previous round of the Nabisco Cup was a frustrating battle, but we will continue to move forward without stagnation, cherishing the team's progress and aiming for consecutive wins in the league. The match will be held in the evening, with a chilly weather, but coach Popovich also expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "We want to show intensity and strength in the game and make the viewers' hearts beat."

Kawasaki, on the other hand, is currently in 14th place with 6 points. They were winless until the 6th round, but due to injuries to MF Nakamura and others, they changed their formation from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2. In the 7th round against Sendai, they scored multiple goals from speedy attacks and secured their first win of the season. They continued their momentum in the following Nabisco Kofu match, winning 3-1. At the same time, Tokyo has lost 3 consecutive matches at home in the Tama River Clasico since 2009.

Takahashi looks back on last season's battle at Ajinomoto Stadium, saying, "We dominated Kawasaki, but we lost due to mistakes and set pieces. That's the unpredictability of the "Classico". In order to win, we need to avoid giving any openings for 90 minutes, and instead, take advantage of any openings from the opponent. Both teams aim to break down the opponent by connecting passes, so Tokyo will increase ball possession and continue to challenge in various attacking aspects in order to score.

Tokyo will face the game with the same starting lineup as the previous round, with Ota returning. Kawasaki will be without MF Nakamura and Renato, but will start DF Jesi and Ito as center backs. DF Saneto will be on the right side, and DF Tanaka on the left. MF Inamoto and Yamamoto will form the defensive midfield, with MF Kobayashi and Oshima on the sides. The formation will consist of FW Yajima and Yu Okubo as the two top players. The game started at 19:04 with Kawasaki's kickoff.

Leading with a calm game play, Lucas scores the first goal!

In the 6th minute of the start, Lucas → Tokunaga was trying to return to Lucas, but was taken away and countered. In the 10th minute, they tried to attack from their own zone, but were taken away and almost got into a pinch. However, Takahashi covered the defense line and did not allow Kawasaki to create a chance. In the first half, Tokyo held onto the ball. They calmly passed the ball around, but struggled to break through Kawasaki's high line and block.

Still, in the 22nd minute, while Yonemoto was injured in a battle with the opponent, Takahashi kept the ball in his own half. When Yonemoto returned, they connected passes, and Tokunaga on the right side passed to Watanabe on the right, who then cut inside and passed to Higashi in the center. Higashi sent a vertical pass, and Hasegawa in the center of the area passed it to Lucas on the left with one touch. Lucas received the ball and immediately kicked a sharp shot into the goal. This was Tokyo's first shot of the day, but from a combination play, Lucas scored his second consecutive goal in the league and took the lead.

After that, there were moments when Kawasaki launched a strong attack, but Tokyo's focused defense prevented any chances for additional points. In the 42nd minute of the first half, Tokyo was hit by a counterattack from a corner kick, and Kawasaki FW Yu OKUBO took a shot, but it went wide. In the 45th minute, Kawasaki FW Yajima entered the left area. Despite competing with Tokyo's DF, he managed to take a shot, but goalkeeper Gonda made a save and prevented a goal. With a one-point lead, the first half ended and they headed into the second half.

Dynamic performance on both offense and defense, East marks their first goal in the league since transferring and secures victory with a clean sheet.

In the second half, Tokyo took the initiative by aggressively attacking from the start of the game. In the 51st minute, they moved the ball from the left side to the center through Hasegawa and Azuma, and then switched to the right side. Lucas, who had entered the right area, couldn't get a shot off, but the ball went back to the center. They launched a strong attack, but Hasegawa's shot from the center missed the goal, grazing past Azuma in front. Immediately after, Kawasaki's GK threw the ball to the right MF Kobayashi, who broke through the right front line and sent a last pass from the front of the area, but Kaga cut it off with his left foot. This moment caused a brief scare, but the ball missed the goal and went out for a corner kick.

In the 57th minute, Azuma made a left cross. Then, Yonemoto made a big side change to the right front line. They tried to attack repeatedly from the side, aiming for the high line of Kawasaki. In the 62nd minute, Watanabe cut off the pass from Kawasaki's goalkeeper near the left corner of the area. He immediately took a shot, but it was blocked by the defender and they couldn't score an additional point. Then, in the 65th minute, Yonemoto showed his strength in a deep position on the right side of their own field. He took the ball from Kawasaki and started a counter attack with Lucas in front and Watanabe in the center dribbling up the field.

At the left, Hasegawa connected and slowed down, but calmly ran into the left area and made a long through pass to the east. East broke through, circled around the goal and calmly shot through the goalkeeper's legs for a goal. It was his first goal since joining the league and a valuable additional point was gained.

70 minutes, Kawasaki changed their formation. In the one-box midfield, Inamoto, FW Yajima and MF Kobayashi formed a two-top, with FW Okubo playing as a top forward, increasing their attacking numbers. This gave them momentum to push into Tokyo's territory. However, Tokyo also made a substitution, bringing in Hyun Soo Jang as a midfielder in the 89th minute. With Yonemoto and Takahashi pushing forward, they shut down Kawasaki's counterattack. They remained focused until the end, keeping a clean sheet and securing a victory in the Tama River Clasico, their second consecutive win in the league.


[Player Comments]
"Lucas" "I'm happy to score a goal! Especially in a game like the Tama River Clasico where everyone gets excited, it was even better. From here on, I want to aim for a winning streak and aim for the top. The important thing is not to lose the ball in a weird way, but today we were able to regain it after losing it, which led to chances and we were able to make the most of them. The part that is lacking is the accuracy of the final pass, including myself. If that improves, I think it will lead to even better attacks and goals."

"I always want to win, of course, but I also want to score. I've had many chances before, but today I was able to hit calmly. I gained confidence that it will go in if I calm down. Above all, I think it was easier because we were able to take the lead today. It was fun to be aggressive from the first half and the defense was stable. And we were quick to switch. We were able to take back the ball when it was taken away and when we had the ball, we were able to calmly create good opportunities. Kawasaki also has good players and is a team that likes to possess the ball. We were able to surpass them in both taking and leading."


[Coach's Press Conference Summary]
Coach Ranko POPOVIC: "It was a very high-quality and good game. We were able to play smart and tenaciously, and sometimes aggressively, depending on the flow and situation of the game. In the first half, we conceded a counter goal due to our own mistake, but we want to fix that."

We aim to move the ball and play at a high pace throughout the 90 minutes, but there are times when we cannot do so. Today, we were able to endure and not let the opponent take advantage when things didn't go well, such as when we couldn't connect or carry the ball. Our defense was also organized, allowing us to rest our bodies and efficiently move forward when we won the ball. Even during difficult times when we couldn't possess the ball, our team was able to maintain a clear unity of purpose.


《Kawasaki・Kazama Manager》"The start wasn't that bad. However, we fell behind due to a slight positional error. From there, I think the team's tempo dropped a bit. We changed the system midway and gradually started to face forward, and there was a good rhythm for a few minutes. However, I felt that we needed to pull out the ball in the midfield from the beginning and play soccer in our own rhythm, and these players are capable of doing that. We want to improve on that in the future."