This season's cup competition has started, and we are heading into the Levain Cup quarterfinals.

Avispa Fukuoka will face off against the home team in the first match of the Levain Cup quarterfinals.
Tokyo participated in the ACL this season, so they entered the cup tournament from the quarterfinals. With renewed determination, the tournament to aim for the top has begun.

Mori Shige, Maruyama have been selected for the Japan national team, while Nathan BURNS has been selected for the Australia national team, so this will be their "first match" without them. However, Coach Shinoda says, "We will fight with the players we have now. We will use the players who are in good condition." He also states, "We don't want to try something new, but rather use our continuity so far to win."
Kelly and Takahashi were appointed as center backs. Tanabe and Nozawa formed a double pivot, while the rest of the starting lineup remained the same as in the league match. Additionally, Hashimoto, who has recovered from injury, will be on the bench.

Fukuoka, on the other hand, has secured a spot in the knockout stage as the 2nd place team in Group B. In the 2nd stage, they are currently on a 4-game losing streak with 1 win, 2 draws, and 7 losses. They are also struggling in the league, currently ranked 18th. However, this means they have a strong determination to win in this tournament. Above all, Tokyo has lost twice to Fukuoka in the league. Manager Shinoda stated, "In reality, Fukuoka is a stronger team. However, we have no intention of backing down and we will challenge them as challengers. We want to make up for the '2 losses' we suffered."

Fukuoka today, DF Komano, who is on a temporary transfer from Tokyo, and MF Mikado are unable to play, and FW Wellington is also absent. On the starting lineup, it's a 4-3-3 formation with Hamada in the center of defense, Kim Hyonun on the right, and MF Tamura on the left. On the right side, DF Nakamura and on the left, DF Kamekawa make up the 5-back. The starting lineup is set with a double pivot of MF Danilson and MF Tomiyasu.

The past few days have been rainy due to the influence of a typhoon, but on the last day of August, the weather suddenly turned into a midsummer climate. The game started at 7:30 pm with a kickoff in Fukuoka.

Controlled the ball and advanced advantageously, but an accident happened to Muriqui...

Tokyo dominated the ball from the start and continued to attack.
7 minutes: Muriqui ran in response to the pass sent to the front line, but received a foul from the opponent, resulting in a FK from the left area. East aimed directly for this, but was blocked by the Fukuoka DF wall, and then tried to aim for the goal in the loose ball, but was blocked by the opponent.

13 minutes: Muriqui dribbles up from the left and passes to the east side. Lori sends a cross from the left front line and Muriqui in the area takes a header shot.

23 minutes: Tanabe dribbles up and makes a horizontal pass to Kono, who has run out to the center. Kono's trap is deflected, initially stopped by Fukuoka, but Muroya follows up on the loose ball and takes a direct shot, but it goes over the frame.
24 minutes: Tanabe wins a free kick near the left area. Kono sends a soft ball to the far right area, and Maeda tries to head it back, but Fukuoka defends it.

The game was progressing in our favor, but Fukuoka's 5-back defense closed the spaces and we couldn't break through. They gradually created counterattack opportunities, but we calmly responded. After that, the game remained in a stalemate.

34 minutes: Muriqui receives a foul from Muroya on the right side and earns a free kick outside the right area. From here, Erik sends a sharp kick to the front of the goal, with Muriqui near the center, Takahashi in the middle, and Maeda in the far side all making powerful jumps. However, the ball just barely goes over Muriqui's head and goes out of bounds. Muriqui injures his leg on the landing and has to leave the pitch temporarily. However, he is unable to return and is forced to make a substitution.
38 minutes: Nakajima, who scored his first goal of the season in the previous league match, is substituted in.

40 minutes: Kono dribbles up and entrusts to Higashi, then enters the right area. Higashi runs into the right area and takes a decisive shot, but... it is saved by the opponent's GK with one hand. Higashi then reacts to the loose ball. He enters a shooting position at close range, but is unable to finish due to the defense of Fukuoka MF Danilson.
Fukuoka's good defense was also blocked, and the first half ended scoreless.

Nakajima scored two consecutive goals to take the lead, but was caught up at the end...

Tokyo dominated the ball in the second half, but Fukuoka pressed from the front, causing mistakes and making it difficult to maintain their rhythm. They were unable to effectively move forward and struggled to create scoring opportunities.

55 minutes: East on the right side attempts to break through the front line from a one-two with Kono in the area, earning their first corner kick of the day. However, Kono's right corner kick is cleared.
57 minutes: In the middle, Higashi → Nakajima dribbles forward from the left and passes to Maeda in the center. He enters the left area, but is blocked by the opposing defender after receiving Maeda's return pass, and is unable to take a shot.

62 minutes: Erik receives Akimoto's goal kick just outside the area, slightly to the right of the center. He takes a moment to set up and then moves to the right. Maeda runs in to support and takes a shot from the right area. Although it is saved by the Fukuoka GK, Nakajima reacts quickly to the rebound. He beats the opposing defender and pushes the ball into the goal with his whole body. This is Nakajima's second consecutive goal following the Nagoya game, giving the team a 1-0 lead.
65 minutes: Tokyo substituted Kono for Mizunuma, trying to increase the speed of their attack and gain momentum.

73 minutes: A quick attack was launched, with Maeda on the right and Nakajima cutting in from the left to aim for the goal, but it hit the opposing defender and resulted in a left corner kick. Immediately after, Hashimoto entered the game. From the short corner on the east side, Mizunuma connected with a loose ball from a cross and took a direct shot.
74 minutes: Fukuoka brought in FW Sakata. Both teams used player substitutions to aim for a goal, and the game became more intense.

While both teams were attacking each other, Tokyo was also helped by Fukuoka's mistakes and did not reach a decisive pinch, but they were unable to score additional points.
85 minutes: Mizunuma, who received Hashimoto's side change on the left, took one step up in the center and aimed for a control shot, but it was caught by the GK.

90 minutes: Takahashi clears an early cross from the left for Fukuoka. Fukuoka MF Tomiyasu seizes the loose ball and moves it to the right front line. Substitute MF Mishima receives a negative pass from here at the right corner of the area. While feinting, MF Mishima brings it inside and scores a powerful shot with his left foot in front of Tokunaga... a devastating goal... This makes it a 1-1 tie.
Fukuoka was brought to a tie with a valuable away goal, and the first game ended in a draw.

[Player Comments]
"Nakajima"
"(Regarding the goal) The GK must always be prepared to deflect. It happened to come in front of me, but it's important to go into that position. Throughout the game, I was conscious of actively attacking and bringing the ball to the goal, as well as playing while using my surroundings. It's a good thing that I can express that consciousness in my play since returning from the Olympics, but I think I need to improve the quality and make more plays that lead directly to goals. At this point, there are also away goals, and the opponent has an advantage, but regardless of that, we want to go and take the ball ourselves and win by scoring."

"Takahashi"
"As for the last 15 minutes, we were able to hold the ball a lot. However, when we were able to hold it, it was a bit ambiguous whether we would go back and try to take it back from Fukuoka's ball holder, or if we would pull back and solidify our block. As a result, we continued to be attacked by early crosses and attacks from the side. We didn't allow any decisive chances, but in the end, we conceded a goal from my own clearance, so we need to reflect on that. However, in order to prepare well for the next 3 days, it's important not to dwell on the fact that we conceded a goal and ended up with a draw today."

[Coach Yoshiyuki SHINODA's Press Conference Summary]
"It's disappointing to have conceded a goal at the end and end up with a draw. However, after the game, I told the players, 'It's not over yet and there's no need to look down.' In terms of the game, we had a lot of possession but couldn't finish. It's a difficult theme, but I think it would have been even better if we could make movements to get behind the opponent or receive the ball between them and turn forward. It would have been better if we could create more pressure on the opponent's goal in the first half. We were still able to score a goal, but in the last 10-15 minutes, we lost the ball a lot due to our own mistakes. We need to play in a way that calms the game down. We need to reflect and make adjustments on our build-up and how we finish the game when we are in a winning position. Next, we have an away game, but we want to show a more aggressive attitude. We only have a short time, but we want to prepare while looking at our own challenges."

[Fukuoka - Coach Masami Ihara's Press Conference Summary]
"First of all, I am grateful to the many fans and supporters from Fukuoka who came and cheered for us."
We were able to catch up by scoring one point in the final round of the knockout system in the second game. I think the one away goal has a big meaning. Tokyo is a team that we earned 6 points in the league this season. They changed coaches from there, but I thought they would fight more fiercely and strictly. Today was a position of 90 minutes out of 180 minutes, but they entered the game firmly so as not to lose to the opponent's momentum and feelings, and they showed it throughout the 90 minutes. In the first half, the plan was to be a little defensive and tight. As a result, we conceded the first goal, but I think our game plan was fulfilled enough, including the equalizing goal at the end. We want to return home and prepare well because there is a second game in 3 days. It is the first experience for Fukuoka to advance to the final tournament, but we want to recover our condition and prepare for the game aiming for the best four.