A fierce battle to aim for victory by avoiding Kobe's attacking momentum and persistently connecting to attacks.

The 3rd round of the Nabisco Cup, which takes place 3 days after the league match, will be against Vissel Kobe. In the league match against Hiroshima, we conceded a goal from a corner kick and lost, while also executing our strategy against Hiroshima. Although we couldn't get the desired result, Hanyu looks back and says, "We were able to show what we had prepared as a team and we were in control."
This round, there will be consecutive away games and a league match on the weekend, so manager Massimo stated, "There are players who need rest, but on the other hand, I want to use players who are in good condition as usual," and declared changes to the lineup. GK Shioda, RB Matsuda will start, CB Morishige and Yoshimoto. In midfield, Takahashi will be the anchor, with Uyu and Higashi as inside halves. Up front, Edu and Watanabe will form the 2 top. Muto will lead the team as a top midfielder.

Kobe, on the other hand, has only played one game in the Nabisco Cup. In the first game, they lost to G Osaka and have 0 points. However, they are currently in 3rd place in the league and can be considered the most energetic team. The in-form FW Pedro JUNIOR, along with young MF Morioka and FW Matsumura, are showing their full potential. Kobe has FW Marquinhos starting on the bench. There may be some changes, but there are no major changes to the lineup. MF Hashimoto is playing as the left SB, with MF Chung Woo-Young and Tanaka in the defensive midfield. Pedro JUNIOR is on the right side of the front line, with MF Matsumura on the left. FW Tashiro is at the top, with MF Morioka behind him. The team is coming together and aiming for victory with a sense of unity. However, Tokyo is focusing on the CB duo of Morishige and Yoshimoto, as well as unifying their front line and midfield, in order to prevent conceding and find opportunities to score.

Cloudy NOEVIR Stadium Kobe. However, the game started at 7:04 PM with a calm weather.

Shioda stands in front of the goal and does not allow a goal, and Muto scores his first professional goal to take the lead!

In the 6th minute of the start, a long pass from the left of the Kobe team's DF line to the right front line. The Tokyo DF seemed to have judged offside, and was caught off guard for a moment, allowing Kobe's right FW Pedro JUNIOR to break through behind. Although they were faced with a 1-on-1 situation with the GK in the right area, the shot was stopped by Shioda's great save, and they escaped the pinch. In the following 10 minutes, Watanabe broke through from the left side and took a daring shot from just outside the area. The rebound from the opponent's GK went to the far side, and Edu ran in, but was cleared by the desperate return of the Kobe DF, resulting in a CK.

15 minutes have passed and there was a pinch in the 6th minute, but other than that, the team has been playing solid defense and connecting with a fast-paced attack while maintaining possession of the ball. In the 19th minute, Edu and Mutoh brought the ball forward with an angle and passed it to Watanabe in front of the goal. Watanabe managed to break through and faced the GK in a 1-on-1 situation, but his touch on the ball was slightly off. He managed to get past the GK and shoot, but it was blocked by the opposing GK.

In the 22nd minute, Hayashi lifted the ball in the center and wisely passed it to Edu on the right. Edu entered the right area freely, but did not take a shot. He chose to pass to the center, but the ball went behind Watanabe who was charging towards the goal, and they missed the chance. In the 26th minute, Matsumoto passed to Watanabe in the center from the right side, and Watanabe received it with his back to the goal and turned around. However, he couldn't take a direct shot and instead brought the ball to the left and took a shot, but it lacked power and was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper...

28 minutes, Salt and Kobe FW collided bravely against the opponent's long ball. Salt could not get up and the game was temporarily stopped. However, a few minutes later, Salt was able to get up without any problems and the game resumed. After 30 minutes, despite creating several big chances, they lacked finishing and were unable to score. In the 33rd minute, Kobe exchanged a direct pass in front of the goal and Pedro JUNIOR broke through on the right side, but Salt made a great save!

At the 35th minute, the feed from the DF line was initially cut off by a header from Kobe's midfield, but Edu seized the loose ball and showed his strength. He ran up the right side, skillfully turning between two opposing DF players. He slipped through and crossed from the right. Although the opposing DF cleared it, the loose ball went to Mutoh just outside the area. His shot from the one-touch was deflected by the GK and went into the goal! Mutoh scores his first professional goal and takes the lead!

In the first half, we launched a good attack from the beginning and created many chances. However, we were unable to finish them off. On the other hand, Kobe FW Pedro JUNIOR also created scoring opportunities, but Shioda saved them one after another and avoided danger. Immediately after, Edu broke through the right side and created a chance, and Muto scored a powerful goal! With Muto's first goal, we took the lead and headed into the second half.

Everyone comes together and grabs the victory with the first clean sheet of the season without losing concentration!

48 minutes into the second half. Muto pressed the opponent's right side pack pass, causing a mistake and sending it to Edu in the center. Edu confidently struck a powerful shot from just outside the area, scoring an additional point.

In the 52nd minute, a FK from their own goal almost directly in front is given to Kobe. MF Chung Yong aimed for it, but it hit the wall and the ball was caught by Shioda. In the 57th minute, Kobe's MF Moriooka took a powerful shot from the left side of Tokyo's goal, but it hit the right post and was saved. In the 59th minute, Kobe made two substitutions, bringing in FW Marquinhos and MF Simplício to try and break the deadlock. Just one minute later, Tokyo also made a substitution, bringing in Yonemoto for Higashi. In the 63rd minute, Ota crossed from the left and Watanabe jumped into the area from the opposite side, but his perfectly timed header was caught by the GK.

Edu scored an additional point by taking advantage of the opponent's mistake in the early part of the second half, which had passed 65 minutes. After that, they maintained their balance and aimed for a third point. Kobe also used player substitutions and tried to counterattack. It was also worth watching how much they could stop Kobe's momentum.

In the 67th minute, Kono was replaced by Kawano and entered as a top midfielder, with Edu and Muto as the top two. In addition, in the 75th minute, Hirayama replaced Edu and entered as a one-top. 70 minutes have passed, and during this time, Kobe has been holding the ball and pushing Tokyo back. However, Tokyo has been able to withstand Kobe's speedy dribbling and direct passes with perseverance and concentration. However, in the 79th minute, Kobe's FW Marquinhos skillfully dribbled past one, then two Tokyo DFs and charged forward. In response, Tokyo was able to stop it with a foul. This gave Kobe a FK from the right area just before the goal. This Kobe FK was sent to the far post by MF Simplício, and DF Masukawa headed it out of bounds.

In the 89th minute, Hirayama dribbled past the opposing DF in the center and flowed to the left. He brought it into the left area, cut back past the opposing DF again, and his shot grazed the hand of the opposing GK and scored the third goal in the lower left corner of the goal.

In the early part of the second half, Edu scored an additional point after Muto's press caused a Kobe pass mistake! In the end, there were times when Kobe was able to grab the rhythm and launch a counterattack, but the defense remained focused. Towards the end, Hirayama scored the third goal to put Kobe away and secure the first clean sheet of the season, leading to a victory for the entire team.

[Player Comments]
"Muto"
"I haven't been able to score for a long time, but I finally managed to score today and the pressure on my shoulders was finally released. I feel mentally lighter now. After the goal, I was able to play more calmly than usual. I couldn't score in many games and I always had the feeling of wanting to score quickly. That may have led to my impatience. At that time, Mita told me, 'If you keep running for the team, you will eventually score.' Today, I was thinking of running for the team. Thanks to Mita, I was able to score."

"Shioda"
"If I can contribute to the team's flow by doing my job well, then I think that's good. But in addition to that, I think all 11 players on the pitch, including the substitutes, were conscious of defending throughout the 90 minutes. I think that led to a clean sheet and a victory. Overall, I think we were able to do what the coach asked for, such as where the defensive midfielders should press or where the top three should press. However, there are also areas for improvement. In the first half, our short counterattacks were not accurate enough, and it became a back-and-forth of counterattacks, which was a bit chaotic. That's something we need to reflect on. Instead of relying solely on the front three for attacking, I think we need support from the back as well. We also need to push up as a team in order to finish with shots or to deliver crosses from the sides. That's something we want to work on and improve."

[Summary of Massimo FICCADENTI's press conference]
"I think we played a really good game. The performance against Hiroshima was also very good, so I think we were able to have a very good game against a strong Kobe team while maintaining that performance. In today's game, the forwards were able to press well and the midfield and defense were able to work together, which I think was very good and the key to our success."

[Kobe - Coach Ryo Adachi's Press Conference Summary]
"The first half goal was not due to a breakdown, and the two goals in the second half were clearly due to mistakes, making it a very unfortunate three goals. In terms of attack, I think we were unable to break through in the final part and there were few good combinations."