GAME RESULTGame Result

Sec. 4 2015/4/04 (Sat)
Audience 20,743 people 
Weather cloudy, weak temperature 13.9 degrees, humidity 53% 
Referee: Akihiko IKEUCHI Assistant Referees: Hisashi NAKAI / Tomoya WATANABE Fourth Official: Naoya OKAWA

J1 1st Sec. 4

Ajinomoto

HOME

FC Tokyo

1-0

Match Finished

First half1-0

Second Half0-0

AWAY

Ventforet Kofu

FC Tokyo Ventforet Kofu
15' Naohiro ISHIKAWA
Scorer
51' Yoshinori MUTO → Ryoichi MAEDA
63' Hiroki KAWANO → Naotake HANYU
88' Hirotaka MITA → Hideto TAKAHASHI
Player Substitution 44' Hokuto SHIMODA → Gohei MORITA
65' Ryohei ARAI → Kazunari HOSAKA
75' Adriano → Junya ITO
11 Shoot 4
7 CK 4
20 FK 21
42' Yohei KAJIYAMA
Warning 28' Ryosuke Arai
61' Hiroshi Noda
68' Shohei Abe
76' Kazunari Hosaka
Exit
FC Tokyo Starting Lineup
GK 1 Shuichi Gonda
DF 2 Yusuke Tokunaga
DF 3 Masato MORISHIGE
DF 30 Canini
DF 6 Kosuke OTA
MF 7 Takashi Yonemoto
MF 8 Hirotaka MITA
MF 10 Yosuke Kajiyama
FW 14 Yoshinori MUTO
FW 17 Hiroki KAWANO
FW 18 Naohiro Ishikawa
FC TokyoSubstitute
GK 13 Tatsuya ENOMOTO
DF 5 Yuichi MARUYAMA
DF 29 Yoshimoto Kazuhito
MF 4 Hideto TAKAHASHI
MF 22 Naoki Hayu
FW 20 Ryoichi MAEDA
FW 23 Yohei HAYASHI
Ventforet KofuStarting Lineup
GK 1 Kota Ogi
DF 3 Hiroto HATAO
DF 4 Hideomi YAMAMOTO
DF 13 Koji Noda
MF 23 Sho INAGAKI
MF 8 Ryohei Arai
MF 18 Hokuto SHIMODA
MF 27 Shohei Abe
FW 7 Katsuya Ishihara
FW 9 Takuma ABE
FW 11 Adriano
Ventforet KofuSubstitute
GK 21 Kohei KAWATA
DF 17 Tsukasa Tsuda
MF 5 Bruno Jibau
MF 16 Yuu Matsubashi
MF 30 Kazunari Hosaka
FW 15 Junya Ito
FW 19 Tsuyoshi Morita

[Player/Coach Comments]

Each representative member has also joined, and the league match has resumed.


After a one-week interval from the Nabisco Cup, the league match resumes. In the 4th round, Ventforet Kofu will face off against Ajinomoto at Ajinomoto Stadium. The Nabisco Matsumoto match ended in a draw, making it 5 games undefeated in official matches this season. During this time, players Gonda, Morishige, Ota, Muto, Nara, and Nakajima, who were participating in activities for the Japan national team and U-22 Japan national team, have joined the team. The team will face this round with all members present.

However, during the midweek practice, Higashi injured his ankle. He will be absent this round due to lingering pain. On the other hand, four players from the Japan national team will return to the starting lineup. Additionally, Ishikawa (first start since March 18th against Albirex Niigata in the Nabisco Cup) and Mita (first start in the league since the previous round against Matsumoto Yamaga) will form the starting lineup, with Muto and Ishikawa as the two forwards. Hayashi, who has recovered from injury, also made it to the bench.

Tokyo, on the other hand, has welcomed new coach Yasuhiro HIGUCHI this season and is working on a new style while maintaining their solid defense and counter-attacking tactics. However, in their previous matches, they ended in draws twice. In order for Tokyo to secure a win, they will need to break through Kofu's "5-back defense that eliminates space". It will be a crucial factor whether they can increase their shots and chances with an aggressive play and grab their first home league victory.

Despite entering April, it was still chilly at Ajinomoto Stadium. The match started at 4:03 PM with a kickoff from Tokyo.

In the league match, for the first time in 1 year and 4 months, Naoya scored his second goal of the season to take the lead!

Kajiyama attacked immediately after the start and earned a CK. He showed an aggressive attitude and in the 3rd minute, Kono ran in from the right front line to the opposite side where the ball had flowed from Ishikawa, aiming from the left area. In the 6th minute, the opponent's FW Takuma ABE also broke through the right front line with speed. He tried to return a short pass in front of the goal, but the Tokyo DF calmly cut it off and escaped to a CK. In the 10th minute, Tokunaga crossed from Yonemoto's side change. In the 14th minute, Yonemoto dropped Muto's ball and Kono took it out to the left, going around from behind, but the shot missed the frame. In the 15th minute, Muto broke through the opponent's defense and escaped to the left area, but was cleared just before taking a shot.

Although they couldn't take advantage of their chances so far, in the 15th minute, Kofu cleared the ball that was played out wide by Ota with a header. Just after that, Yonemoto, near the halfway line, quickly sent a lofted pass to the front line. Ishikawa skillfully slipped behind the defense and controlled the ball with one touch with his right foot, then swung his left foot from the left area! The shot, which curved beautifully, found the net, giving Ishikawa his second goal of the season following his goal against Nagoya in the Nabisco Cup, and his first league goal since the 33rd round of the 2013 season, putting them in the lead.

After that, he quickly made a move and in the 30th minute, Ishikawa received a foul in the left area and earned a free kick. Morishige took a direct shot, but the goalkeeper caught it. In the 31st minute, Kajiyama quickly reacted to a ball that spilled from a throw-in by Kofu in Tokyo's territory. He made it his ball and passed it to Muto on the right front line. Muto slid to the center, avoiding the opposing DF, and changed his body position to aim for the bottom right corner with a shot, but it narrowly curved to the right.

Kofu did not allow any clear chances, but in the 33rd minute, the opponent's right corner kick was cleared high and Kofu MF Shimoda took a direct shot. In the 35th minute, Kofu's FK resulted in another shot by MF Shimoda, but both were off target and avoided conceding a goal. In the 39th minute, Kofu's right side player Ishikawa passed to Ota who ran into the left area after Kajiyama moved up the center, but his shot went over the bar. They couldn't score another goal, but they maintained their lead and ended the first half.

Defending with high concentration, we won our second consecutive league victory!


An accident occurs at the start of the second half. Muto, who had been suffering from a sore back since the first half, was unable to continue playing and was forced to be substituted. In the 51st minute, Maeda came in. Despite this, he continued to make speedy attacks, and in the 60th minute, Ishikawa broke through from Maeda's pass on the right side. Mita, who had moved up on the inside, dropped the ball and Yonemoto provided support in the area. They launched a thick attack from quick passing, but were unable to finish in the end.

With the opponent's counterattack, the ball goes back and forth fiercely, and in the 72nd minute, Ota sends a FK from the right area to the inside of the area. Kofu's clearance ball hits the opponent's DF's hand again, and they are awarded a PK for a handball foul. However, Morishige's PK hits the left post of the goal... They couldn't get an additional point, and immediately after that, Hayashi was substituted for Kawano. With Hayashi and Mita on both sides, Yonehara and Kajiyama form a double pivot in a 4-4-2 formation.

However, Kofu also counterattacked by sending a long ball to substitute FW Morita. Tokyo was unable to connect their own ball and the game became hectic. In the 74th minute, they were unable to stop the powerful dribble of Kofu FW Takuma ABE and were given a through pass behind the DF. FW Adriano rushed towards the goal, but Canini cut off the shot just before and it went out for a corner kick.

In the 79th minute, Hayu fought hard on the front line and won a right corner kick. Morishige jumped in on Ishikawa's kick and made a powerful header, but... it was blocked by the post on the upper right of the goal. After that, there was a period of time where they couldn't break Yamanashi's rhythm, but in the 88th minute, Takahashi was subbed in. In the final minutes, they switched to a 5-back formation and maintained their concentration and energy, keeping a clean sheet until the final whistle. They held onto Ishikawa's goal and grabbed their first home victory in the league.

[Player Comments]
"Ishikawa"
"We definitely wanted to win because we couldn't win at Ajinomoto in the league. I think everyone was able to show a strong desire for victory throughout the 90 minutes."
(What about the goal?)
I had been aiming for that shape many times. There were also scenes where I was offside, but I always tried to pull the opponent DF and break through behind, even if the pass didn't come out. In the scoring scene, I was able to calmly break through and trap, and bring it to a shot. Last season, I spent frustrating time, but I think that the accumulation that I have been doing at that time has led to today's result. It is necessary to keep moving forward here and continue to connect it to a shape."

"I'm happy and confident that I was able to make an assist that led to a goal. When I received Ota's clearance and looked up, I could see Ishikawa moving. I've been playing with Ishikawa for a long time and we have good chemistry. Before the game, he told me, 'I'll start moving, so please pass me the ball.' It was exactly as I imagined. Coach Massimo told us to 'move the ball quickly against Kofu's defense.' I think we were able to execute our preparations from this past week, including our focus on playing vertically."

[Summary of Massimo FICCADENTI's press conference]
"After taking the lead, we were able to steal the ball in the midfield and create multiple chances on the counter, which was a good period of time for us. In the first half, we were able to steal the ball in the opponent's half and create chances. We couldn't get a second goal, but we continued the same momentum in the second half and didn't allow Kofu to create many shooting opportunities. After the penalty kick, it was a difficult time but the players remained calm and continued to play well. In the second half, Kofu used a lot of long balls and put us under pressure, but we were able to handle it in an organized manner. The players also understood and made great adjustments tactically, such as switching to a 4-4-1-1 formation or using 5 defenders. However, there are still some areas where our attacking precision, including penalties and set pieces, needs improvement. If we had scored a second goal, we could have controlled the game more easily."
(What was the aim of having a speedy top two?)
It was also understood that the Kofu defense line sometimes becomes five, making it difficult to easily catch offside and controlling the line. So the two forwards were preparing to aim for the back. In the first half, there was a decisive chance for Muto, and Ishikawa was also able to create the desired shape. Regarding Muto's injury, there is a slight pain in his lower back. I think he will be able to join in 2-3 days, so I don't think it's a big problem."

[Kofu - Yasuhiro HIGUCHI Coach's Press Conference Summary]
"I am disappointed that there were many negative elements in the game along with the result. In the two-week preparation period leading up to this match, we have been demanding quick switching and strict marking. However, especially in the first half, we were unable to compete in the ball and our slow switching was noticeable. For some players, I couldn't help but feel like they were playing soccer out of fear of making mistakes. That is very disappointing and we want to continue to demand it as a means of promoting growth. As a factor in not being able to score, I think it can be said that the quality of passes is not improving. There are too many easy mistakes in the build-up and we are not able to connect to breakthroughs. There are issues such as the tempo of moving the ball, but we were not able to do what we could do today. However, we have to recognize the current situation and continue training. The game won't wait for us, so we want to try as a team."