I want to overcome the difficulties of the league by taking advantage of the victory in the ACL.

J1 Sec. 10 against Hiroshima will be held on June 15th (Wed) due to the schedule of ACL. Therefore, we will first face Shonan Bellmare in Sec. 11.

The ACL Bin Zoun match held on the 4th was a tough game in the scorching heat, but Maeda scored 2 goals. They grabbed their first victory in 6 official matches and advanced to the ACL Round 16. Although they have not been able to break out of their 4-game winless streak in the league, they have taken the team's united attitude as a base and are heading towards this round.

In this round, Takahashi was used in the midfield following the Bin Zoun match. It was his first league start. Also, although it is shown as a 4-4-2 on the team sheet, Takahashi was placed as an anchor in the center, with Yonemoto and Tanabe on either side. Kono and Abe were on the wings. They will face the match with a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Maeda at the top.

Shonan also made some changes to the lineup from the previous match, starting MF Masaru HASEGAWA and MF Yamada. MF Kikuchi and MF Hayato HASEGAWA in a double pivot. MF Narawa and MF Yamada on the wings. FW Otsuki leading the attack, with FW Endo and FW Takayama playing as shadows, starting in this formation.

In order to achieve two consecutive wins in the league and face a strong Shonan, it may not be possible to maintain pressure and control throughout the 90 minutes considering Tokyo's condition. Therefore, it will be a game to aim for victory by accurately assessing the flow and surpassing at key moments.

The game started at 4:04 PM in Tokyo, with occasional sunshine peeking through the clouds and a growing chill in the air as evening approached.

Shonan avoids the press and goes on the attack, with Kono scoring the opening goal!

They started the game with an aggressive attitude both in attack and defense. They actively pressed and took the ball, and were able to move the ball forward by avoiding Shonan's press, resulting in many opportunities for set plays.

3 minutes: After pushing the opponent down with a feed to the front line, Abe and Shonan DF compete for the ball, but Yonemoto closes in on the clear and aims for the goal, but it goes to the left.
9 minutes: Shonan is given a right CK, which is connected by MF Yamada in short, and MF Narawa crosses. MF Hasegawa jumps into the near side, but does not touch the ball and Tokyo clears it in front of the goal.
　
17 minutes: Tanabe aims for the goal and earns a right corner kick. Although they couldn't finish from this corner kick, they continued to connect with a second ball and Kono put in a right cross. Abe, in front of the goal, made a perfect header, but it was blocked by the GK... They couldn't take advantage of the chances from free kicks and corner kicks, but they attacked mainly from the sides.

20 minutes: Ogawa, who has moved slightly towards the center, connects passes at a good tempo and sends a vertical pass to Tanabe on the left front line. Tanabe sends a fast cross with his left foot and Kono, who was closing in near the goal, scores with a header! They showed a good combination and took the lead in the flow of the game. 1-0.

27 minutes: Mori's short clear falls to Shonan FW Takayama in the Tokyo area, and he makes a move in the right area. Connected to MF Nara who attacked from the side, but the right CK was cleared by Akimoto's punching.
Tokyo, who took the lead, calmly defended against Shonan's counterattacks and did not allow them to take any shots.

37 minutes: Yonemoto carries the ball forward and sends a through pass to Tokunaga on the right side. Tokunaga catches up and crosses the ball, but Kono in the box fails to finish it. Tanabe follows up and this time attacks from the left side, but is unable to take a shot.

Although we were unable to score any additional points, we maintained a quick pace and continued to actively challenge, ending the first half with a 1-point lead.

Fight with all your heart and achieve two consecutive victories in official matches

In the second half, Shonan's MF Ishikawa moved to the central midfield. MF Kikuchi and Hasegawa moved up one line, and the front line changed to a formation with central FW Otsuki, MF Yamada on the right, and Takayama on the left, as they prepared for a counterattack.

53 minutes: From Shonan's left side back Mikasa's early cross, FW Otsuki jumps into the goal. Maruyama did not firmly close the heading, but the situation continued to be attacked from Shonan's left side.

59 minutes: Hasegawa is substituted for Kono in the midfield. Tanabe tried to respond by moving to the right side.

62 minutes: Shonan MF Masaru HASEGAWA and FW Otsuki's one-two, FW Takayama goes to the left area. Furthermore, MF Yamada was pushed into the center of the area, but the Tokyo DF closed in and did not allow a shot. From the loose ball, MF Masaru HASEGAWA in front of the area was aimed for a goal, but it was also blocked.

Shonan gradually gained momentum, but Tokyo did not show any defensive flaws. As a result, Shonan was only able to take one shot. On the other hand, there were few chances to connect in the attack, but we calmly fought and tried to exploit the opponent's weaknesses.

74 minutes: Hanyu is substituted for Tanabe. Hashimoto moves up to the front line, increasing the attacking force. Immediately after, Ogawa's left cross is blocked again from the left CK, and Maruyama reacts to the loose ball. He rushes into the left area and takes a shot, but it goes wide.

79 minutes: Hashimoto dribbles past the opposing DF and charges down the right flank, sending a fast cross. Maeda, who was marked by the opponent in the left area, tries to break away from the DF and heads the ball, but it goes to the Shonan GK.

In the final stage, both teams were unable to settle the ball and the exchange between offense and defense became intense. Shonan tried to create a play by utilizing the movement of the third player from the side to the center, but Tokyo firmly defended the goal and did not allow any shots. They also showed a strong presence on the pitch, with players like Hanyu, Takahashi, and Morishige frequently giving instructions and fighting with a strong attitude until the end of the game.

The team showed a united effort and achieved a 1-0 score, winning with a clean sheet for the first time since the Kobe match on March 11th in the league, securing their second consecutive victory in official matches.

[Player Comments]
"Kono"
"The goal came from a good ball from Tanabe. At first, I thought the cross would come up from the previous play, so I felt like I had entered too far in front of the goal. However, Tanabe's cross was fast, so I was able to hit it well. Regardless of the system, I think it was the hard work of each individual running that led to the victory. I think everyone fought until the end."

"Maruyama"
"Although it was a match against Shonan, I was more focused on winning as a team rather than my personal feelings. I tried to be more gritty and focused on winning rather than trying to make good plays. As a center back, I was especially conscious of the distance between the front and sides, but I think we were able to cover for each other whenever someone challenged for the ball. I want to continue this defense."

[Coach Hiroshi JOFUKU's Press Conference Summary]
"We confirmed what was most important to us before entering the game, because it was a game with a heavy pressure that we absolutely could not lose. Despite the tight conditions, the players did well. As for the content, we must aim higher, but the fight to not lose continues. We want to continue to accumulate points in order to meet the expectations of our fans and supporters."
(What is the difference between the ideal football and the football that wins points when changing the system?)
Although it is not possible to judge whether the system is offensive or defensive, today we wanted to thicken the midfield. Therefore, we had to reduce the number of players in the front line, but we made the full-backs take an aggressive position to cover for that. We were able to do that in the first half. Rather than the system, we want to continue to improve our defensive awareness that we showed today throughout the season. I think it is something that will get closer throughout the year, rather than completing the ideal football in 2-3 months. We want to continue the momentum we gained in the ACL Bin Zoun match and this round, and prepare for the next crucial match that we cannot afford to lose.

[Shonan - Manager CHO Kwi Jae's Press Conference Summary]
"We wanted to finish the GW3 series with 3 consecutive wins, but unfortunately we couldn't even get 1 point today. In the beginning of the game, our defensive switches were unclear and we were scored on. After that, the game remained at a one-point difference, but since we had players who had just played in the ACL, we were hoping to score a goal in the latter half. However, we didn't have the strength to come back. We changed some players from the previous game and tried to bring out the best in our current team, but both successful and unsuccessful aspects were shown. After playing 11 league games, our players have had various experiences. In the midst of that, we feel both a sense of accomplishment and areas for improvement. It's not a world where we can just feel a sense of accomplishment and fight, and it's a waste to only play in the league to fix our areas for improvement. We may not be able to say that we can take today's loss positively, but we want to improve the quality of what we lack while also focusing on winning and losing. We hope to use today's reflection to our advantage in the next game against Fukuoka."