Aiming for a 3-game winning streak, grab 3 points away from home

League Sec. 18, away match against Shimizu S-Pulse. The team had a temporary break due to national team activities, but during that time they held a friendly match with 7/23CE Sabadel. There are no issues with conditioning for the Shimizu match. Tokunaga, Morishige, Takahashi, Gonda, and Hyun Soo JANG, who were participating in the East Asian Cup, have also energetically joined the team. Coach Popovic also emphasized, "It is pleasing that they have returned with high motivation. However, it is important for them to continue to establish themselves. In order to do so, they must not neglect their play in Tokyo," highlighting the importance of the national team beyond their performance with the team.

Shimizu, who they will face, is currently in 11th place with 22 points. During this break, FW Barei left the team, while MF Honda joined. In addition, MF Sugiyama and DF Yoshida will be suspended for this match. In the 12th round, Tokyo won at Ajinomoto Stadium, but since then, Shimizu has made changes to their lineup, making them a different team from last time. In particular, they need to be wary of FW Ito's speed and technical ability. MF Muramatsu and Honda in the defensive midfield have the ability to keep possession and make aggressive attacks. If they are able to control the pace from a solid defense and create rhythm through short passes from MF Rokuhira and Kawai and movements between the DF, it will be a difficult match for Tokyo.

Tokyo will have Kaga out of the squad considering his foot condition. Morishige and Hyun Soo JANG will be the center backs. Watanabe says, "If we can score the first goal, it should make things easier, but even if we concede first away, we want to fight without panicking. The game is decided over 90 minutes. Within that, I want to showcase my own style and score goals that lead to victory." In addition, if it becomes a close game, set pieces will also be key. Ota says, "It's been two years already, so I don't have any feelings of playing against my former team, but I want to aim for chances for Tokyo's victory and be aggressive not just in set pieces, but in all aspects of the game."

We want to stick to our determination and aggressiveness and aim to take 3 points away. The match started at 19:05 in Tokyo at IAI Stadium Nihondaira.

Despite both teams having a speedy development, the first half ends with no score.

Tokyo showed a good start to the game from the beginning of the first half. In the 4th minute, Lucas broke through on a long pass from Tokunaga and won a right corner kick. Higashi connected with a short pass and followed up with a deep run into the right area, but Shimizu cleared the ball in the middle. In the 9th minute, Lucas received a long pass from the left side and passed it to Watanabe, who changed his body direction and took a first shot from outside the area, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. Both teams pressed each other with compact formations, resulting in a tight game.

17 minutes, Watanabe receives a wedge on the left side of the opponent's field and immediately expands to the left side. Ota breaks through to the left front line and passes to the center. East receives it in the center of the area and shoots, but the GK saves it. Tokyo tries to switch the attack from a vertical pass, but Shimizu's defense is tough and they are unable to create a scoring opportunity in the area. They also fail to take advantage of set pieces as the opponent clears the ball first.

Then, in the 38th minute, East cut off Shizuoka's pass in the center of the opponent's field. Immediately, he passed to the front line and Watanabe broke through to face the GK in a one-on-one situation, but was closed down by Shizuoka's DF from behind and the ball was cut off by a sliding tackle, ending up with the GK. It was the first chance of the first half, but it was not taken advantage of. Both teams raised their lines and pressed each other, and the speedy development continued until the end, but neither team was able to bring the ball to a shot. The first half ended scoreless.

The league match ended in the first scoreless draw.

In the second half, Shimizu takes control. In the 49th minute, MF Kawai takes a shot from the right throw-in and hits the bottom right corner, but it is saved by Gonda and results in a corner kick. In the 50th minute, MF Ishige takes a direct free kick, but Gonda catches it. On the contrary, in the 55th minute, Lucas receives a through pass on a counter attack and appears to be fouled by Shimizu DF near the edge of the box, but no foul is given. Tokyo struggles to connect passes and Shimizu continues to dominate possession and launch strong attacks.

In the 67th minute, Ishikawa was substituted for Lucas to change the flow of the game. Then in the 69th minute, Watanabe reacted to a loose ball from a pass exchange on the left area. He took a direct shot, but it was saved by the GK. In the 72nd minute, the opponent's pass went to Hasegawa. He dribbled up and made a through pass behind the defense. Watanabe reacted to it, but the GK blocked it just before reaching the ball. In the 75th minute, Hirayama was substituted for Watanabe.

80 minutes, Hirayama runs into the area and passes to the left front space, using Ishikawa as a decoy. Takahashi runs in and crosses from the edge of the line. The ball flows to the opposite side and from Hasegawa's cross, Hirayama on the right side takes a looping shot, but it goes over the bar. In the 85th minute, Shimizu's DF Ikije receives a second warning and is sent off. In the 88th minute, Nemanja VUCICEVIC is substituted in for Higashi.

Then, in the 90th minute, Tokunaga, who had moved up the right side, made a minus cross to the center. Vucicevic, who met it in front of the area, hit the left post and missed the goal. In the end, they were unable to break through the resilient defense of Shimizu, who were reduced to 10 men. It ended in a scoreless draw, their first in the league, and they only managed to earn 1 point.


[Player Comments]
"Tokunaga"
"Shimizu was aiming for a wedge and vertical pass, and I didn't have many chances to shoot, and I may not have had enough determination to shoot. It's meaningless to have a good defense if you can't connect it to the attack. However, there were some chances to score, even though they were few. If we could have scored even one goal, I think the game would have taken a different turn."

"Watanabe"
"We defended from the front and were able to create our own pace in the first half. We were also aiming for counter attacks and had to score when we had the chance. We have to reflect on that. However, in the first half, we were able to dominate the ball, but I feel like there weren't many opportunities to break through Shimizu's defensive block. We lost the ball when we tried to make vertical passes and couldn't get to the point of shooting. We needed to come up with ways to break through from the sides or dribble and bring the ball into the area. But we can take it as a positive that we didn't lose and we will work hard to win next time and score the goals we need for that."


[Coach Popovich's Press Conference Summary]
"It was a game where we lacked goals. We were able to take control from the first half and control the game, but I think we lacked precision, attitude towards scoring goals, and decisiveness today. However, in the flow of the game, the opponent also stopped us with physical play and fouls. There were a few plays where cards were given, so if there were proper judgments, I think the opponent would not have been able to stop us with fouls."

We were able to regain control after a period where things didn't go well and the opponent took the lead. Shimizu is also a very tough and well-organized team. I think we were able to show our strength in this type of match, but we lacked goals. In the next match, we want to improve and make corrections in that area."

[Shimizu - Afshin GHOTBI's Press Conference Summary]
"I think our efforts and soccer itself in the second half were good. Of course, it was a difficult battle without key players, so I thought it would be difficult. And MF Honda played his first game today. I think the sharpness I was looking for in the front line was still lacking. In the end, we became 10 men and it was a difficult situation, but I think the players did well. Of course, we wanted to get 3 points, but we were able to get 1 point. We want to regain it from now on."