A crucial match aiming to resolve the lack of scoring power and secure 3 points.

At Naruto Otsuka, which is the first time in three years for Tokyo, they will face Tokushima, who will fight in J1 this season. In the previous match, they pushed Omiya throughout the game, but conceded a goal in additional time, resulting in their third consecutive loss. Morishige said about the goal, "It was my mistake. I can't make excuses," but it would be unfair to only blame the defense, which has kept the fewest goals conceded, for the loss.

Manager Massimo also said, "I think we created the most chances in the Omiya game out of all the games we've played so far. In order to get points, we need goals, so we focused on that in our training three days ago." He aims to resolve the lack of scoring ability and win 3 points in this match, which will be the last of the 5 consecutive games. Winger Hayashi, who was injured, and Kakuhiju, who also joined the training, are both important players for us. The manager continued, "It's a consecutive game, but I don't think the players' recovery is affected by the heat. Hayashi and Kakuhiju are important players for us. There is no doubt that our choices will increase," and he approaches the game with positive factors for the team. Tokyo's attacking lineup will aim for goals with Watanabe and Hirayama as the top two, and Kono as the attacking midfielder.

Tokushima, who are currently in 18th place with 3 points, will face Shinji KOBAYASHI's team. As the first Shikoku team to compete in the top league this season, Tokushima has only won one league game so far. It can be said that they are in a difficult situation. In the midst of consecutive games, there have been some changes in the lineup since the last match. The lineup on the team sheet shows a 4-4-2 formation, with FW Takasaki leading the front line and FW Sho SASAKI playing as a top midfielder. MF Kojima is on the right side of the midfield, while MF Hamada is on the left. MF Saito is in charge of the defensive midfield, with MF Oosaki and DF Lee on the wings. The defense consists of a back three of Fujihara, Fukumoto, and Hashiuchi.

Tokushima in particular is a team with a strong determination to never give up until the end, and they will aim for their first victory at home. On the other hand, Tokyo will maintain their usual strength in ball control and quick transitions, and they want to create chances by connecting good defense to good offense.

The game started at 2:04 PM with a kickoff from Tokushima, under perfect weather conditions with clear skies and a slight breeze.

Dominate the ball and attack, but still scoreless heading into the second half.

In the 7th minute of the match, Tokyo quickly switched and attacked, with Kono breaking through on the left side. He took a shot with speed, but it missed high and to the right. In the following 8 minutes, Kono passed to the right side to Hirayama, who calmly passed back to the center and behind. Yonemoto boldly aimed for the goal, but it hit the opponent's defender and resulted in a corner kick. From this corner kick, Takahashi headed it into the center, but they were unable to finish it off.

13 minutes, pushing up the whole, Tokunaga on the right area shoots the ball towards the goal. Watanabe collects it at his feet, turns and shoots... but it goes to the left. 14 minutes, right corner kick. From Ota's kick, Morishige on the far side couldn't finish it, but he persistently connects and Yamamoto shoots from the center. He tried to push the well-controlled shot into the goal, but it was blocked by the GK.

15 minutes have passed. In the early stages, there was a back-and-forth battle for the ball, and there were moments where Tokushima was able to create opportunities from the right side, but they calmly defended against them. From there, they quickly switched to the attack, but they were still unable to fully capitalize on their chances. In the 26th minute, Kono on the right side sent a heel pass to the front line, and Yonemoto, who had moved up from the outside, crossed the ball. Higashi on the far side attempted a header, but was unable to get a clean shot off due to being challenged by the opponent, and the ball went wide. In the 29th minute, Tokunaga went up the right side and crossed the ball from Yonemoto's pass. Hirayama on the far side attempted a header, but it was caught by the goalkeeper's feet...

After 30 minutes have passed without being able to score, the temperature on the pitch has risen and there is no wind. Despite this, Tokyo is running well and trying to connect their attacks, but they have lost the ball many times in the front line against Tokushima's 5-back formation, and there have also been moments where they were able to connect to the front line. In the 36th minute, Hirayama on the right side of the area sent a floating ball to Kawano in front of the area, and Hirayama once again sent a floating ball into the middle from a chest trap, but East was contested by the defender as he entered a shooting position... They were able to create a chance from a great idea and good teamwork, but they were unable to score.

40 minutes, Ota's cross did not reach Watanabe in the center. Here, Tokushima cut it off and MF Saito expanded to the left. FW Sho SASAKI initially got past Tokunaga and tried to dribble forward, but Tokunaga cut it off when he tried to shoot after circling inside. They did not allow the shot with persistent defense. As time passed, they dominated the ball and attacked, but Tokushima's 5-back formation closed the spaces and they lost the ball often in the front line. They created chances from crosses from both sides and passes from Kono, but they couldn't score. The score remained 0-0 heading into the second half.

Unable to score, scoreless draw

Tokushima substituted DF Alex at the start of the second half. In the 52nd minute, Kono from the right area passed to Hiraoka in the center, who then passed to East who had run into the left area. However, the ball was not cleared and resulted in a left corner kick. East then passed it short to Ota who crossed it. Yonemoto from the far side headed it down, but it was defended by the opponent... In the following 54th minute, Tokushima's left wing Alex advanced and passed to the center. MF Hamada's short cross was headed by FW Sasaki in the center, but it went wide of the goal.

55 minutes, Edu came on as a substitute for Hirayama. In the 56th minute, Takahashi moved up to the right and passed to the center. Edu, who had his back to the goal, turned around and took a sharp shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 60th minute, Ota's left corner kick couldn't be finished. However, they picked up the second ball and Tokunaga tried to move forward from the midfield, but was intercepted... Tokushima FW Takasaki dribbled forward desperately, with Higashi also trying to close in. The shot from just outside the area narrowly missed the goal, avoiding a dangerous situation... In the 63rd minute, Matsuda came on for Tokunaga and the system was changed to a 3-back. Then in the 69th minute, Kono was replaced by Mutoh.

At the 70-minute mark, despite attacking, they were unable to score and gradually began to feel anxious, resulting in mistakes. There were also moments where Tokushima created chances, but the defense remained calm and dealt with them. With three substitutions made, they aimed for a goal. In the 83rd minute, Ota was able to stop Tokushima's counterattack with a foul. The resulting free kick from the center of Tokyo's defense was blocked by the wall, but the second ball was connected and pushed Tokushima back. Yonemoto's clearance went to Tokushima, and a pass was made behind the defense, but they were able to respond by raising the line.

At the 87th minute, Edu from the area reacts to a pass from the right. He tries to get into a shooting position, but it's blocked. He persists and passes it to Higashi who follows from behind. However, his middle shot from the front of the area is also blocked, resulting in a right corner kick. From Higashi's kick, Morishige jumps in near the goal and heads it, but it grazes the bar and goes out of bounds. As the additional time begins, Muto, who was competing for Morishige's feed, receives a foul and a free kick is given from almost directly in front of the goal, slightly to the left of the penalty arc. Edu takes the free kick and aims for the right side of the goal, but it is saved by the GK... Time's up.

In the second half, both teams' physicality decreased and the game became drawn out, with mistakes leading to counter attacks. Despite not allowing any goals, they were unable to score even one point... making it four consecutive games without scoring. The game ended in a draw, giving Tokushima their first home point.

[Player Comments]
《Edu》
"It was a long time since I played for a long time. I didn't have many shooting chances, but I tried to play my minimum role. There was also a scene where I made a last pass, and the feeling and connection of the play were not bad... But my job is to score goals. It's a shame that I couldn't do that."
(Is there any sense of urgency as a team?)
There is definitely a desire to score quickly and a strong determination to win. However, I don't think that's a bad thing. It's important to believe in ourselves and continue to practice so that we can create more opportunities and score in a better way when we play."

"Gonda"
"This season, everyone is conscious of defense. The fact that we have been able to keep the number of goals conceded to a minimum is because everyone is defending in the front and midfield. Today, when Tokunaga was dispossessed, Higashi, who is not usually there, came back to the defensive line and covered him one-on-one. Ota also did a great job of winning headers against the opponent. Everyone is really working hard. It's tough to go on the attack when you're using so much energy on defense. So I can't say to the attacking players, 'You're not scoring goals.' They are definitely feeling frustrated. Instead of that, I want to reflect on the fact that we only got 4 points in this 5-game stretch with 1 win, 1 draw, and 3 losses. If we had been able to turn those 3 losses into draws, we would have had 7 points. Even if we couldn't score, we could have held on for 4 draws with our defense. As a team, we may start working on more efficient ways to score from here, but as a defensive player, I want to continue to make efforts to reduce the chances of losing."

[Summary of Massimo FICCADENTI's press conference]
"We were able to fight well and create many chances, but not being able to score shows the difficulty of football. I think the players' mentality is naturally affected by the lack of results, but they continue to run hard and play wonderfully, so I hope they will continue to do so. As for the second half, there were a few dangerous counterattacks due to the desire to win causing us to stretch out. However, even considering that, I think we dominated the game."

[Tokushima - Manager Shinji Kobayashi's Press Conference Summary]
"I think we were able to make the system work well in the three days we had. In the tough situation of five consecutive games, Tokyo's feet were a little slow, but we were able to create chances as well. In the first half, we were able to take the ball as planned on the right side, but the left side was a bit shaky. However, we were able to defend well and connect to the attack. In the second half, we were able to break through the ball side from the attack, but we couldn't make a big breakthrough and ended up conceding on the counter. If we can move and pass the ball smoothly even when our feet are a little slow, I think the players can rest while the final line and defensive midfielder are attacking, but we couldn't do that. It was good to get one point at home and see that we are slowly fighting and working hard. "