Return to our roots and aim for goals and victory in the 3 consecutive games against Nagoya

In the 23rd round of the league held on weekdays, we will move our home to the National Stadium and face Sagan Tosu. In the previous round, we ended up with a scoreless draw and have not been able to achieve victory in the last 3 games with 2 draws and 1 loss. At the same time, we have not scored in the last 2 games. We will face this round as the middle day of a 3-game stretch, but we want to make some adjustments and score goals to take the victory.

However, Yonehara will be suspended due to accumulated warnings. As a result, Takahashi and Hasegawa will form the defensive midfield. In addition, Ishikawa will start as the right midfielder for the second consecutive match. On the left side, Mita, who started in the 16th round (July 13th Niigata match), will be used. The center back will be led by Morishige and Kaga.

Sagan Tosu, on the other hand, is currently in 14th place with 23 points. They have struggled to prevent goals and have suffered many losses in close matches. However, they have strengthened their defense with DF Kikuchi and GK Hayashi mid-season. With these additions, they have now won two consecutive matches. It can be said that they have regained their form and are gaining momentum.

FW Toyoda will of course be the center of attack. His strong heading and powerful attack utilizing the movement of all players is undoubtedly the weapon of Tosu. On the other hand, if we lose in the early stages, the opponent will gain momentum. In order to suppress the energetic runs of FW Ikeda and MF Mizunuma, we want to actively fight without reducing our movement and becoming passive.

In order to make the most of Tokyo's strengths, we must demonstrate teamwork and quick decision-making supported by hard work, and aim for victory. The match started at 7:04 PM with a kickoff in Tokyo at the Japan National Stadium, where a slight breeze finally blew under the harsh late summer heat.

Sagan Tosu conceded the first goal from a one chance, and then went on to suffer another goal in quick succession.

Sagan Tosu came out strongly in the beginning. In response, Tokyo calmly adapted. Gradually, they took control of the ball and set the pace. In the 7th minute, Ota attacked from the left side. Although the cross was cleared by the opponent, Ishikawa picked up the loose ball and took a direct shot from just outside the left area. In the 12th minute, Mita received a side change from Hasegawa and boldly dribbled towards the goal, aiming for a low shot.

26 minutes Takahashi changes sides to the left front line. East, who received the ball, brings it into the center and avoids a one-two from Mita, who has moved up the center, and receives a return pass to take a shot. In the 35th minute, Takahashi runs into the midfield to connect with the ball that was spilled, and persistently links up with the front line. Ishikawa, who received a one-touch pass from East in the center, turns around and takes a shot from just outside the area, but is unable to hit it properly due to his posture.

In the 39th minute, as they were unable to take advantage of their chances, Tosu's left back DF Kim crosses the ball. It initially hits Tokyo's DF, but is picked up and crossed again. Tosu's FW Julian makes a skillful move to get in front of Tokyo's DF and scores with a header. Just two minutes later, in the 41st minute, they lose the ball in midfield and Tosu's FW Ikeda makes a speedy dribble into the left area. Kaga tries to cut him off with a sliding tackle, but he cuts inside and scores on the opposite side, giving them a 2-0 lead going into the second half.

Hirayama scored his first goal since November 2010, Watanabe followed up, and made a fierce pursuit, but...

It was the second half that we wanted to counterattack, but it was Tosu who first grasped the rhythm. We allowed them to dominate the ball by picking up second balls. Still, Tokyo wanted to score the first goal, and in the 61st minute, Takahashi switched to the right side to Watari and Tokunaga overlapped to support. From here, Hasegawa and Watari exchanged precise passes in the center, and finally Tokunaga took a shot from the right area. However, it went over the bar, and in the 62nd minute, Hirayama and Lucas were brought on. This was a successful attempt to grasp the rhythm of the counterattack.

However, despite attacking mainly through crosses, they were unable to make any decisive shots due to Tosu's quick defense and tough defense on the final line. However, they persisted and in the 81st minute, Morishige -> Ota's left cross was met by Hirayama, who jumped in from the far side and scored a powerful header! It grazed the opponent's GK's hand and hit the left post before bouncing back into the goal!! As planned, Hirayama scored his first goal since November 2010 and closed the gap to one point.

With this, the signal fire of counterattack was raised, and as they pushed Tosu back, in the 84th minute, Watanabe, who received a pass from the right side by Higashi, turned around at the penalty arc and aimed for the goal, piercing a sharp shot just barely to the bottom right. With a splendid goal to equalize, the mood for a comeback increased.

However, in the immediate 85th minute, Julian, who was persistent in the right area, made a decisive shot from the ball that was connected to the center, but was blocked by the good save of Tosu GK. On the contrary, they were hit by Tosu's counterattack. Tosu's right side back DF Niwa -> right MF Mizunuma's ground cross, slid in from the far side by FW Toyota, and although Gonda came out and saved it, he was pushed in by the body and allowed the go-ahead goal.

Afterwards, Tokyo continued to attack without giving up until the end, including 6 minutes of additional time, but it was in vain. They suffered a defeat of 2-3 and ended up with a result of 4 consecutive losses.


[Player Comments]
《Hirayama》
「When I was selected to play, I was instructed to play in front of the goal and not drift too much to the sides. I wanted to work in the center. Our wings have great attacking abilities, so even before scoring, we had several crosses coming in. It was just a matter of my own movements and accuracy. The goal came from a pinpoint pass from Ota, so I think I was able to score even though the goalkeeper touched it. But I want to score or assist for the sake of winning. I will do my best for the next game so we can win.」

"Mita"
"I had the feeling of wanting to do my best in my first start in a while. I don't think the start of the game was bad. However, I lost the ball and that led to the second goal. I want to fix those kinds of mistakes."


[Coach Popovich's Press Conference Summary]
"I think it was an interesting game for everyone watching. The score and game flow were enjoyable. However, we are not satisfied because we could not get 3 points. In the first half, we had control, but the opponent scored 2 goals with 2 shots. The first goal was supposed to be Tosu's first shot. They scored the second goal with their third shot. We made some mistakes, but they were able to score 2 out of 3 shots. We needed to play more effectively in key moments."

In the second half, we were dominated at the beginning, but we were able to control the game and create many chances with our substitution strategy. We had a chance to turn the game around with two goals. We couldn't finish it off, but I want to say that the players fought well. I also want to thank the fans and supporters for supporting us until the end. Congratulations to Tosu for the victory."


[Summary of Tosu Manager Yoon's Press Conference]
"Despite it being a weekday, I am truly grateful for the support from so many people. We faced a difficult situation with a short span of time before the game, but the players made a great start and fought well. We gave up two points in the second half and it became a tough situation. The nightmare from last season came to mind, but the players fought until the end without giving up. I think that's what led to our victory. However, some players have accumulated warnings and there are also injured players, so we cannot dwell on this situation as we have a game in two days. We want to prepare for the next game."