Sec. 24 Tama River Classico, Showing Growth and Seeking Revenge in the First Half

In the 24th round of the league, we will face Kawasaki Frontale away as the 24th Tama River Clasico. In the previous round, we ended in a draw and remained undefeated for 11 league games, but we have not been able to win in the last 3 matches. In this situation, facing Kawasaki, coach Massimo says, "In the Tama River Clasico, we want to give our all and make it a great match no matter what. And we want to win." It is also a match where we want to show our growth and take revenge, as we suffered a 0-4 defeat in the 4th round of the first half of the league.

Kawasaki, on the other hand, is currently in second place with 43 points. Under the leadership of manager Kazama, the team has matured over the past three seasons. They are currently 4 points behind first place Urawa, but are trying to close the gap and challenge for the top spot. However, in this match, FW Okubo and DF Jessi will be suspended. U-21 Japan national team MF Oshima will also be absent. However, in the previous match, FW Yasu filled in the gap left by their absence and led the team to a big victory over Tokushima. Their attacking power remains strong. Not only do FW Kobayashi and Renato have the ability to break through individually, but they also have unique passing skills and attacking fullbacks on both sides. Most importantly, they must pay close attention to the attacks led by MF Nakamura.

In this round, the focus will be on Tokyo's defense against Kawasaki's attacking power. The key will be how they can break their opponents' coordination and connect their own attacks. However, U-21 Japan national team MF Nozawa and Nakajima will be absent for the second consecutive round. Muto, who injured his neck during practice this week, will still start and the team will face the same lineup as the previous round. In addition, U-18 MF Sasaki, who was registered as a top team player, will make his first appearance on the bench.

Autumn has arrived, and the coolness can be felt at Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium. The game started at 7:04 PM with a kickoff by Kawasaki.

Gradually allowed Kawasaki's dominance, but maintained the quickness of switching

In the early stages, both teams attacked quickly and the game was back and forth. In the 11th minute, Edu was fouled after entering the opponent's half, and Takahashi quickly restarted the game with the resulting free kick. Muto on the right side aimed for a ground shot. In the 16th minute, Kawasaki attacked with speedy passing and earned a free kick from just outside the right area. MF Nakamura sent a kick to the front line, but FW Kobayashi headed it away and DF Tanaka took a header shot from the far side. In the 18th minute, Kawasaki FW Renato took a powerful shot from the left side, but Gonda made the save.

In the 20th minute, Tokyo's Hanyu on the right side passed the ball to Yonemoto in the center, who then dropped it for Takahashi to take a sharp shot, but it was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper in the upper right corner of the goal. After that, Kawasaki gradually gained control of the ball and continued to attack with speedy passing, but Tokyo's defense was strong with high awareness from all players, trying to quickly switch to an attack after winning the ball. However, they lost the ball frequently in the front line and were unable to create any decisive chances.

At 37 minutes, Muto broke through the left area from Morishige's feed. He looked closely at the opponent from his shooting motion, cut inside, and tried to send a last pass to the front of the goal, but Kawasaki cut it off. Yonemoto, who was covering, regained possession, but his touch was disrupted and he couldn't get a shot off. Next, they attacked from a left throw-in, and Edu from the far side tried to head in Uchida's cross, but his position was off and he couldn't get a clean shot.

In the latter half, both teams were actively attacking each other. In the 44th minute, Kawasaki FW Renato made a powerful dribble and broke through to the left area. He forcefully split between Yoshimoto and Hanyu and took a shot, but it was saved by Gonda and went out for a corner kick. Throughout the game, we calmly responded to Kawasaki's speedy attacks and maintained our quick counterattacks. Although we couldn't create any decisive chances, the match continued with exciting back-and-forth attacks, and the first half ended with a scoreless draw.

The intense offense and defense ended in a scoreless draw, the first since 2005.

In the 46th minute of the second half, Hanyu reacted to a second ball and ran into the goal, receiving a foul from Kawasaki MF Paulinho and earning a FK from the center. Although there was distance, Morishige aimed directly at it but was blocked. In the 47th minute, Tokunaga and Kawasaki FW Renato rushed in from this loose ball, and Renato fell with his arm on Tokunaga's chest, causing the game to temporarily stop. Both quickly returned to the game, pushing their fighting spirit to the forefront and creating an intense development.

At 51 minutes, Takahashi tenaciously connected a loose ball in their own half and moved forward to the left side. Muto received the ball and dribbled forward. Although his shot from just outside the box was blocked, the rebound fell to Edu who was free in the right side of the box. It was a decisive moment, but Edu's trap failed and the goalkeeper was able to save it... From there, Kawasaki launched a counterattack and connected from the right side to the center, where MF Nakamura broke through, but Tokyo was able to hold them off and neither team was able to capitalize on their chances.

In the 57th minute, Kawasaki DF Torisato moved to left back. This led to a period of time where Kawasaki continued to push forward. In the 58th minute, FW Yasu was able to break through the area from a last pass by Kawasaki MF Nakamura, but the shot was saved by Gonda. Immediately after, Kawasaki MF Nakamura made a sharp ground cross. The loose ball from this block was passed to FW Renato in the left area, who took a shot, but Yoshimoto, Morishige, and others threw their bodies to block it again!! They were able to survive the danger.

Kawasaki tried to take advantage of their opponent's weaknesses while showing perseverance and concentration against their powerful attack. In the midst of a counter battle, Kajiyama was substituted for Hanyu in the 74th minute. He formed a double pivot with Takahashi, with Yonemoto and Muto on the wings and Edu and Kono up front. Both teams made substitutions and the intense battle to chase after "one goal" continued. In the 78th minute, Kawasaki's left midfielder Nakamura sent a through pass to forward Kobayashi who broke through, but it was ruled offside. In the 80th minute, Tokyo's Muto dropped a cross from Tokunaga and Edu in the center of the area took a direct volley with his left foot, but it went over the bar.

In the 88th minute, Mita replaced Kono. In additional time, the Kawasaki GK came out and collided with Muto and the opposing DF as they both went for the ball that had flowed forward. Mita charged in, but was fouled and brought down, earning a free kick from the left side of the penalty arc. However, Ota's kick was blocked by the wall... They couldn't take advantage of the chance, but thanks to numerous great saves by Kanda, they kept a clean sheet until the final whistle. In the Tama River Clasico, it ended in a scoreless draw for the first time since the 7th edition on July 6, 2005, resulting in both teams earning 1 point.

[Player Comments]
"Yoshimoto"
"It was good that we were able to keep a clean sheet, but we went for the 3 points and wanted to win. Even for myself, looking at everyone's expressions after the game, the feeling of regret remains. Rather than being undefeated in 12 league games, the feeling of not being able to win in 4 games is stronger. We have a quick turnaround for the next game, but we want to make good preparations for a victory."

"Takahashi"
"Everything was because we couldn't win. Until about 20 minutes into the first half, we were able to take the ball in a good shape, but Kawasaki MF Nakamura player dropped back and MF Paulinho and Taniguchi player came forward in a replacement form. It was difficult to catch who would see it. In the second half, it became a tough battle as a whole and I didn't feel any personal response. Still, everyone held down the situation individually. I think it's because we studied the opponent and prepared well."

[Summary of Massimo FICCADENTI's press conference]
"We fought well against each other. We also gave it our all. Although we have been drawing for a long time, we had more decisive chances today and our players continued to play well. It is most important to continue this momentum. Kawasaki has been a team that has been competing at the top for the past few years, and they are currently in good form, so I think our performance today was valuable. We balanced and organized well in the fight. We gave it our all with the strength we have, so there is nothing to say to the players."

[Kawasaki - Yahiro Kazama Coach's Press Conference Summary]
"A game we couldn't finish off." That's all there is to it. I don't have the expression "we could have brought it to a draw" in me. Of course it was a game we could have won, and we had plenty of chances so we wanted to finish it off. However, even with changes in the lineup, we were able to express our style firmly and create so many chances. It was a game where if we had finished them off, it would have been good. In that sense, it's a disappointing result, but I think you can feel that individual abilities are improving and team strength is increasing."