Nabisco Cup resumes, looking to regain momentum and confidence

As we face another consecutive match schedule, the Nabisco Cup resumes. In the 5th round of the qualifying league, we will face Ventforet Kofu at Ajinomoto Stadium. In the previous league match, we suffered a heavy defeat of 4 goals against Urawa. However, we aim to regroup here and break the losing streak. At the same time, Manager Massimo and the players say, "The Nabisco Cup is also an important tournament for us. We will fight each match carefully aiming for the championship." After the 3rd round, Tokyo stands at the top of Group A with 7 points, but if we can earn 3 points this round, we will be much closer to advancing to the group stage. It will be a match where the team comes together to aim for victory.

However, for this match, Tokunaga, Kono, and Canini will be absent. As a result, Matsuda will make his first start of the season at right back. Maruyama will be used as a starter at center back. In midfield, Takahashi will be the anchor, with Yonemoto and Mita. Muto and Maeda will be the two forwards. East will be positioned as the attacking midfielder.

Kofu, on the other hand, has only 1 point after 3 matches in the Nabisco Cup, placing them in 7th position. They have also been struggling in the league and have yet to climb out of last place. However, with a change in manager, Ryo Sakuma has taken over and led the team to their first victory in 3 matches in the previous round. Kofu will also be making changes to their lineup for this match, with new signing FW Lins unable to play. The only player who started in the previous league match was DF Arai, but they will all be determined to seize their chance and aim for victory.

Especially Kofu, who played in a 3-4-2-1 formation, struggled against the league's 1st place team (in the 4th round on April 4th) as they were constantly under pressure and had difficulty launching counterattacks. Tokyo will need to persistently contain Kofu's attacks from the wings and break through their strong defense, using crosses from both sides.

Ajinomoto Stadium, where the humidity lingers even after the sun sets, the game started at 7:04 PM with a kickoff in Tokyo.

Muto scores the opening goal from a set piece.

Tokyo dominated the ball from the beginning. They connected passes and advanced the game inside the Kofu territory, frequently gaining chances for CK and FK. In the 11th minute, Mutoh went around from the left side and tried to create an opportunity with Higashi and Mita, but couldn't finish and the play moved to the opposite side. Ota crossed the ball, but Takahashi couldn't control it and Kofu launched a counterattack. Kofu's right FW Horimai dribbled down the side, took a step inside, and took a shot, but it lacked power and Gonda caught it in front.

Tokyo also attacks from both sides, and in the 16th minute, Matsuda made an early cross. Yonemoto followed up on the opponent's defender's clearance, and took a direct shot with his right foot after trapping the ball with his left foot, but it narrowly went over the bar. In the 27th minute, while the ball was being fought over, Morishige intercepted and tried to connect with Yonemoto in front, but was unable to do so and was hit by Kofu's counterattack. Immediately, the ball was played out to the right side, and MF Matsumoto aimed for a shot, but it went wide. Although Kofu's accuracy was not high, they were able to finish precisely.

At 33 minutes, Ota on the left side passed diagonally to Higashi, who dropped it and entered the area. Muto in a withdrawn position aimed for a vertical pass into the area, but was blocked. Mita followed up on the loose ball and attempted a direct shot from the center of the area, but was once again blocked. The time to take a shot continued, but at 40 minutes, Higashi overlapped with Ota. Muto headed the cross from here, but it went over the bar.

As time passed without being able to take advantage of chances in the flow, the 41st minute arrived and a FK was obtained on the right side of the midfield. From a quick restart, Mita → Morishige made an early cross. The ball went over the center of the area and towards the far side, where Muto in the left area met it with a direct shot with his left foot, GOAL!! Finally taking the lead just before the end of the first half, they headed into the second half.

Despite being tied in the final stages, we took the lead in additional time!

In the early stages of the second half, Tokyo continued to dominate and aimed for additional points through crosses and set plays. In the 49th minute, Matsuda was fouled on the left side and a free kick was awarded. Morishige → Mita sent the ball to the right front line, where Matsuda ran up to a high position and crossed the ball in front of the goal, but the Kofu goalkeeper caught it. It was not possible to connect with Maeda in the near post. In the 52nd minute, Yonemoto sent a fast early cross from a left throw-in. Mutoh jumped out from behind Maeda in the center, but his sliding tackle was just a little too late. In the 56th minute, Takahashi regained possession of the ball for Kofu and launched an attack on the left. Higashi → Ota's cross grazed the opposing defender and fell to Maeda, who was free in the right area. However, it was a handball offense at the time of the trap.

Gradually, as Tokyo's mistakes piled up and they lost their rhythm, Kofu brought on FW Adriano in the 55th minute. This was the turning point as they were able to grab the momentum for a counterattack. In the 60th minute, they were able to evade the press from the front line and bring the ball to the right side. Adriano's cross from the right was cut off by Morishige. In the 66th minute, Kofu's MF Shimoda made a one-touch vertical pass into the area. Adriano was able to break through behind the defense and take a decisive shot from the right side, but Morishige was able to block it and Gonda made the save. In the 75th minute, Kofu's right side MF Matsumoto → FW Horikome sent a vertical pass into the area, and FW Ito was able to break through behind the defense.

Despite not allowing any goals, in the 85th minute, Tokyo's GK stopped the ball and dropped it to MF Adriano in the midfield. FW Horikome then moved to the left and MF Matsumoto sprinted down the left side with incredible speed, bringing the ball all the way to the left area. The Tokyo DF couldn't keep up and the opponent was able to take a free shot and score, resulting in a tie... It was a disappointing way to give up the equalizer.

Still, without giving up on victory, in the 87th minute, Erik was substituted for Higashi. This would prove to be successful. Just before the end of the 4-minute additional time, Muto received a foul while carrying the opponent's DF from a pass by Yonemoto, earning a free kick on the left side. From here, Ota sent a kick to the front line, which was headed by Hayashi in the right area. Muto reacted quickly to the ball that flew to the lower left of the goal, and despite being blocked by the GK's save, he pushed it in with his left foot for a goal! Immediately after, the time was up, and they successfully took home a valuable 3 points despite the struggle. As a result, they accumulated 10 points and maintained their position as the top of the group.

[Player Comments]
"Hayashi"
"(When entering the game) the flow was leaning towards Kofu, so I thought I would press forward more and more. At that time, we conceded a goal and I thought I wanted to score a goal no matter what. I entered on the right side of the front three and tried to take advantage of the one chance by running behind the opponent and jumping into the cross from the opposite side. In the corner kick situation, I was able to enter at a good timing by avoiding the opponent's mark. The most important thing today was to win, but next time I want to score a goal."

"Maruyama"
"In the first half, we were able to move the ball well and defend well. However, in the second half, the atmosphere gradually became loose and the overall performance felt relaxed. We lacked concentration and the atmosphere became a bit loose, which led to conceding a goal during that time. These are big points for reflection. However, it's not easy to have a perfect game at 100% or 100 points. We want to take the new challenges as positive gains and move on to the next game."

[Summary of Massimo FICCADENTI's press conference]
"We were able to dominate the game until midway through the second half. However, it was a good lesson that we need to finish the game properly, or else things like this will happen. We created a few dangerous situations, but we were able to create more chances throughout the 90 minutes, so I think we deserved the win. The performance was good from the start, and in the end, luck was on our side. If possible, I wanted to make substitutions early and give some players a rest, but the game was too close to easily make substitutions. The opponent kept running until the end, and it was not an easy game, but it is not good to end a game like today, where we took control, with a draw. Especially in the second half, we were too focused on attacking and made some mistakes in the midfield, which created a lot of space. As a result, we were exposed to Kofu's fast counterattacks. If we didn't make those mistakes, we wouldn't have conceded, and I think we could have managed the game better. Still, it's important that we didn't let the loss in the league affect us and were able to get the win."

[Kofu - Coach Satoru Sakuma's Press Conference Summary]
"We welcomed today in a short preparation period, but unfortunately we couldn't deliver 3 points to the supporters who came to support us on a weekday away game. The first half was a game plan to aim for 0-0, but we made a boring mistake and gave away a foul, which led to a goal. In the second half, we had to score a goal, so we made improvements such as bringing in FW Adriano and adjusting the players' positions. Today, we used players who haven't had many chances so far, but the players who played understood the advantages and disadvantages of Tokyo's system and our system well, and I think they attacked with courage in the second half. What became clear today is that if we give a free kick to a top J1 team in that time period at the end of the game, there is a high possibility that they will score. I think the players were able to learn from this again. It's very disappointing, but we want to switch our focus to the next league game against Sendai."