I want to stop the losing streak at the last home game of Golden Week

In the 12th round of the league, which will be played in just 2 days, we will face Omiya Ardija at home. In the previous round, we suffered a defeat by conceding a goal from a corner kick, just like in the 10th round against Nagoya. Improving our defense against set pieces is urgent, but manager Massimo says, "Unexpected things will always happen during the process of building a team. We want to overcome those challenges." He also praised the team for creating chances by "creating space for ourselves" in the attack. He continued, "We want to improve the quality of our finishes and minimize mistakes to achieve results." We also have high expectations for the attacking players who have been scoreless in the past 2 matches.

Omiya, on the other hand, is currently in 15th place with 9 points. As you may know, they welcomed coach Kiyoshi OKUMA this season and started a new chapter, but they have not won a single game in the league since Sec. 5. However, in the past few games, they have changed to a 3-back formation. They have shown resilience in a 3-4-2-1 lineup and managed to draw against C Osaka and Niigata. When defending, Omiya tends to switch to a 5-back formation, and if they concede a goal first, it becomes difficult for them. Therefore, the key is whether they can score first. Above all, Omiya has not been able to win against Tokyo at Ajinomoto Stadium for 3 seasons since 2010. They will need to maintain their focus and resilience for 90 minutes, and with the support of their home fans, they will aim for victory with an aggressive approach. In the previous game, Tokyo made one change to their starting lineup, with DF Yoshimoto starting.

The match started at 1:03 pm with a mix of light rain and lingering chill in the air before the game, with Omiya kicking off.

Unable to take advantage of chances, the first half ends scoreless.

2 minutes into the game, Tokyo's FK was deflected, but they picked up the second ball and connected it. Ota then made a minus pass to the left front line. Takahashi, who was pressing on the clear, took a shot from the middle. The shot hit the opposing DF on the front line, but the ball bounced back and Tokyo reacted. They took a shot from a close distance, but it went over the bar... In the 6th minute, Watanabe entered the right area. He cut inside the opposing DF and took a shot. In the 8th minute, Yonemoto chased after the ball and Mutoh circled around from the right to aim for the goal from the front of the area. They dominated the ball and attacked from the beginning, but their shots were all blocked by the Omiya DF who put their bodies on the line in front of the goal.

Omiya gradually created a simple attacking formation, and in the 13th minute, right wing DF Imai crossed. It was headed by central FW Tomiyama, but caught by Gonda. In the 16th minute, FW Zlatan suffered a foot injury and was forced to be substituted, causing an accident. As a result, FW Hasegawa was brought in. In the 21st minute, from Omiya MF Ienaga's development, DF Imai advanced and shot near the ground. Hasegawa jumped in, but Tokyo concentrated and escaped with a CK. Immediately after, from the flow of this CK from Omiya, Kikuchi was cut back by Yonemoto on the left front line, creating an angle and taking a shot. However, Gonda saved it. Omiya also began to attack boldly, and in the 27th minute, DF Nakamura and then MF Hasegawa took a shot, but both missed the target and were not in a decisive position.

In the latter half, Tokyo regained control of the rhythm again, and in the 36th minute, Takahashi connected a header to the clear from the opponent DF and turned it around to the middle of the area. In the 42nd minute, East advanced to the goal while passing the ball. They tried to break through the DF with skillful coordination, and in the end, Hirayama from the far side tried to connect with Watanabe's cross from the right. However, they couldn't take advantage of the chance and ended the first half with a scoreless draw.

Completely dominated the ball and pushed it in, but was caught off guard at the end...

In the second half, Ota changed sides with a kickoff ball and Muto broke through the right front line from Hirayama on the right. He sent a minus pass to the area, and Watanabe created a decisive opportunity with a direct shot. Although it slightly curved to the left and couldn't score, this led to almost complete ball control and the game progressed in the Omiya zone. However, in the 58th minute, Hirayama from the left side tried to jump in and score on a cross from Higashi, but couldn't finish it. After that, they continued to look for chances while passing the ball, but they couldn't take advantage of Omiya's solid defense and couldn't bring it to a finish.

Therefore, in the 62nd minute, Kono was replaced by Kawano and tried to switch the attack on the front line. In the 66th minute, from the left throw-in, Hirayama connected to the center and Mutou on the left side, trying to move forward to escape from the opponent in the area, but the shot was blocked. In the 68th minute, Hirayama jumped in on Ota's sharp cross, but the ball flowed back and slipped between Higashi and Mutou in the far side. In the 70th minute, Mutou broke through on the left front line. Kono jumped in on the minus pass and created a decisive opportunity, but was blocked by the goalkeeper... In the 73rd minute, Takahashi took the ball from Ota's through pass and shot from the return pass from Mutou, but it was off target. Omiya did not allow any counterattacks and created chances one after another, but they could not break through the goal.

In the 86th minute, Edu was substituted for Muto. They aimed for 3 points until the end, and even attacked the Omiya goal in the 4 minutes of additional time... In the 90th minute +3, Edu's cross was caught by the Omiya GK, and from here a long kick was sent to the front line. Omiya FW Hasegawa moved up to the front line. Morishige was marking him, but he was turned around and escaped to the front, and Yoshimoto slid in at the drop of the ball, but then a shot was taken... A sharp ball went into the net... They were far from scoring a point, and instead they conceded a goal in a moment of carelessness, suffering their third consecutive defeat.

[Player Comments]
《MoriShige》
"The goal was completely my fault. I am truly sorry. I was torn between leaving it to Yoshimoto or following it myself... I made a wrong decision. If I had just cleared it normally, there would have been no problem. I can't make excuses. However, the next game is coming up soon, so I have to switch my focus and move on. The attacking line is also doing well, so I think it's most important to keep going. Personally, I want to make up for my mistake with a good play."

《Yoshimoto》
"We were definitely going for 3 points, but if we didn't concede, we could have gotten 1 point. We absolutely couldn't afford to concede there. It's even more frustrating because we were playing a good game. Even if we're called weak in crucial moments, we have to accept that as our current situation. But when we have consecutive losses and end up in this situation, we tend to blame others. But right now, no one is blaming anyone and as a team, we haven't fallen apart. I have confidence that we can turn things around here. We want to switch gears and move on to the next game."

[Summary of Massimo FICCADENTI's Press Conference]
"In the first half, we had two decisive chances. In the second half, we were attacking for most of the time and were able to play our game. The opponent played most of the time in their own penalty area. But that's just how soccer is, even if we attack for 90 minutes, we can still lose with one mistake or one shot. Unfortunately, that's the beauty and the tough part of soccer. The players showed such a performance and it wouldn't be strange if we had gotten a result. I think the Omiya coach would have the same opinion, but sometimes a team that hardly takes any shots can still beat a team that dominates the game. That's what sets soccer apart from other sports. We need to overcome this defeat as a team and for Captain Morishige, he had been playing wonderfully, but mistakes like this can happen. I believe that when the team comes together and overcomes this difficult situation, we can become a strong team."

[Omiya - Coach Kiyoshi Okuma's Press Conference Summary]
"We always send out our players with the intention of playing a passionate game. The second half was a really tough period, and we had injured players, but that passion led to the opponent's shots missing and we were able to hold on for the win. In the past, the work and roles of the starting and substitute players didn't always lead to results, but today the substitute player who came on for the injured player did a great job. It was a great team effort. I believe that giving 100% or more, including from the substitute players, is what helps develop players and the team. We want to continue to work hard so we can have more games like this in the future. There is a unique atmosphere and familiar aspects when we come to Ajinomoto Stadium. We wanted to show that we are also working hard and doing our best. We wanted to report to our fans and supporters that we were able to earn 3 points, but we will continue to work hard in the future."