A match aiming for 3 points away, with the momentum of consecutive victories.

In the 9th round of the league, we will face Sagan Tosu away. In the previous round against Kawasaki, we demonstrated speed and coordination in both offense and defense, with Lucas scoring in two consecutive games and Higashi marking his first league goal, while also keeping a clean sheet to secure victory. With this win, we have climbed up to 6th place in the rankings. Higashi stated, "I scored my first goal in the league, but I feel that it was a team effort both in defense and offense. That's why it's important for us to continue doing what we need to do."

Tokyo, currently in 13th place with 1 win, 4 draws, and 3 losses. Their only victory was in Sec. 3 against Kawasaki. Despite suffering 3 consecutive losses in Sec. 5-7, they have regained momentum with a speedy attack led by FW Toyoda, who has scored 6 goals himself. They must also be wary of FW Ikeda, MF Noda and Okada's aggressive runs, as well as MF Fujita's long throws and accurate kicks in set pieces. The key to victory will be maintaining concentration and playing for the full 90 minutes.

Tokyo made no changes to their lineup from the previous match. The key will be how they can convert their attacks into goals against the opponent's strong defense. They will look to utilize the fluidity of their front line, with players like Lucas and Masaru HASEGAWA creating opportunities from the wings and connecting to the goal. It will also be important for the defense to work together and apply pressure from the front line, not allowing the opponent to play freely. They will assess the flow and situation of the game and aim for a third consecutive victory through unified efforts from all players. The match will kick off at 6:04 PM in Tokyo at the Best Amenity Stadium.

East scores the first goal from a set play! They lead and head into halftime.

Tokyo started attacking vigorously from the beginning. From the kickoff, they connected the ball and Tokunaga on the right side made a side change. Hasegawa dropped it and Higashi in the center moved to the right area. There, Watanabe made a run and took a shot in a coordinated manner, but it missed widely. In the 8th minute, Hasegawa persistently picked up the second ball and passed it to Yonemoto who went up the left side. He sent a low cross to the goal and Watanabe tried to score directly, but it hit the top of the bar.

In the 23rd minute, East controlled Mori's long pass perfectly and faced the opposing DF in a 1-on-1 situation on the left side. However, the pass he aimed for in front of the goal was cut off at close range and did not go through. Despite trying to use their ball control and quick transition between offense and defense to create chances, they were unable to produce any clear opportunities. On the other hand, Tosu launched a counterattack and threatened Tokyo's goal. They also attempted to connect with FW Toyota from MF Fujita's long throw-ins and corner kicks, but the DFs were able to defend with concentration.

In the 28th minute, Watanabe dribbled through the center. From there, Higashi tried to break through the left side, but was fouled outside the area and awarded a free kick. Hasegawa sent the ball to the center with a ground pass, and Higashi scored a middle shot that passed through the players of both teams and went into the lower left corner, taking the lead. However, the flow remained with Tosu. They continued to enter the area one after another, but were firmly covered and did not allow any goals. They ended the first half with a 1-0 lead.

Watanabe's 2 goals pulled away, and although they faced the tenacity of Tosu in the end, they still won! They achieved their third consecutive victory.

The game starts moving from the second half. In the 46th minute, Nakagawa cleared the ball and competed with the opponent, but Hasegawa followed and took it, quickly switching to attack. Connecting to Higashi in the midfield, Higashi made a through pass to the left front line. In response, Watanabe broke through and calmly avoided the GK who had jumped out in front of the left area, scoring a goal in an empty net. In addition, in the 49th minute, Watanabe made a looping shot while tangled with the opponent's DF from Gonda's long feed to the front line. This was deflected by the GK and went into the goal.

In the early stages, it seemed that Tokyo was completely in control with a 3-point lead, but then they were hit with a fierce comeback from Tosu. In the 57th minute, Tosu's left SB, Kaneko, sent in an early cross and FW Toyota headed it in from the far side, but Gonda made the catch. In the 62nd minute, Lee was substituted in for Lucas. Watanabe moved to the top and Higashi moved to the right side. Then in the 74th minute, Ishikawa was substituted in for Watanabe. However, Tosu's momentum did not waver. In the 77th minute, Kaga committed a foul in the area and gave away a penalty. This was converted by FW Toyota, resulting in a goal against Tokyo.

In the 78th minute, Ishikawa, who had entered the right area, cut back the opponent's DF and took a shot. Although it hit the bar, Lee reacted with a header but it went outside the frame. In the 79th minute, from a right cross, Tosu FW Toyota's header hit the bar. In the 80th minute, Chang Hyun Soo was substituted for Higashi to strengthen the defense. However, Tosu, who never gave up, scored a goal in stoppage time by MF Mizunuma, making it a one-goal difference. Despite launching a wave of attacks, they managed to hold on and secure their third consecutive victory.

[Player Comments]
《Watanabe》
"The first goal was made possible by Keigo's well-timed pass, allowing me to break away from the opponent. Just as I planned. For the second goal, my teammates teased me, saying 'Wasn't that offside!?' but I was able to skillfully avoid the GK. I wanted to score the third goal as well, but I was substituted and more importantly, we were under pressure from Tosu for most of the game. We have some things to reflect on as a team."

(Jumped to the top of the scoring rankings?) Not yet. The season is long. There are still many games to come, but I want to continue to strive to keep winning.

《East》
"I was able to achieve personal results in terms of scoring, but in the end, the team was in chaos and it seemed like we were going to end up with a draw. That's something we need to fix and improve by communicating with each other. We may have won three games in a row, but we haven't forgotten the difficulty of losing and we need to fight with more urgency. We want to make even better preparations, including our fighting spirit and mental strength."

(After scoring a goal and running to the bench?) We are fighting as a team. Even with players who cannot play and players who are not on the roster, we all came together and went to Tosu. That's the feeling I had when I ran to the bench. Of course, I also have respect for the coach."


[Coach's Press Conference Summary]
"Coach Ranko POPOVIC
"I think it was an interesting game for everyone. But for me, it wasn't. We had a lot of people come to the game during Golden Week and I think they enjoyed it. Of course, it would have been best to end with a 3-0 win, but I think it was a tense and exciting game until the end."

The result of winning all three points was good, but as a point of reflection, we should have finished the game properly before it became like this. We gave the opponent chances in the last 10-15 minutes and there were times when we let them play. However, I think we played well enough to deserve the win in today's match.


"《 Tosu · YOON Jong Hwan Manager 》
"I am very sorry to have caused a disappointing result in the midst of many cheers. However, we lost the game, but we were able to find positive aspects. The game will continue, so I think the future will be important. (Did you allow 2 goals in a similar way?) I think it's something that can happen in a game. I think it was a mistake in cooperation, but I think it was fatal for the team to have it twice in a row."