The sense of unity of FC Tokyo surpassed ours.

Words spoken by Coach Mase of Blaublitz Akita at the press conference after the match.
The victory in this match was truly something that was achieved together by fans, supporters, players, staff, and many others involved.

The match will be held at home 'Ajinomoto Stadium', marking the first hosting of the 2016 Meiji Yasuda J3 League.
The starting eleven of Tokyo is GK Enclosure.
The DF line consists of teenage players from right to left: Yanagi, Suzuki, Ogawa, and Koyama.
In midfield, Nozawa and Kobayashi, who made his first start, took positions as holding midfielders, with Mizunuma, Hayashi, and Uchida in the second line from the right.
Insoo YU is in the front line, a young lineup with an average starting age of 21 years.
And on the bench, Naohiro ISHIKAWA made his return from injury and was included in the J3 League for the first time.
Akita is a team on a winning streak with three consecutive victories. In the last match, we lost 0-1, and we don't want to suffer consecutive losses in direct encounters.
Only the main stand of Ajinomoto Stadium is in use, and the upper seats are also open.
Despite the rain, 3,236 fans and supporters gathered together to challenge Akita.

[First Half]
Intense battles for possession unfold from the early stages.
Tokyo moves the ball and looks for gaps in the opponent's defense, but struggles to deliver effective passes to the front line.
Akita also tries to steal the ball with intense pressing in the midfield and defense line, attempting to break through from both sides, but the Tokyo defense holds them off near the penalty area, making it difficult for both teams to create good opportunities.
The first chance was created by Akita, who approached the goal in the 13th minute, and in the 18th minute, a floating pass was sent to the left side behind the defense from the center of their own half.
This was volleyed, but the goalkeeper made a great save.
In the 21st minute, Nozawa made a long pass from the right side of his own half to Insoo YU, who broke through behind the opponent's defensive line.
However, it was cleared by the opposing GK with a header after leaving the penalty area.
In the 22nd minute, they approached the goal from a free kick but were unable to score.
Still, Tokyo gradually found their rhythm. In the 25th minute, Yanagi passed vertically to Insoo YU on the right side, who then spread the ball to Mizunuma on the right side.
Although blocked by the opponent, the time spent attacking into the opponent's territory increases due to coordinated passing plays.
However, in the 34th minute, the ball was taken away from the central DF line in our own half due to the opponent's press. This was a situation that Ogawa, who returned desperately, managed to buy time and escape the crisis.
In the 36th minute, Insoo YU received the ball in the center of the opponent's half and passed it to Hayashi. Hayashi aimed for a long shot, but it went straight to the goalkeeper.
The battle for the ball continued without either side creating chances, and the first half ended 0-0.

【Halftime】
Coach Nakamura's Comments
"Let's effectively use free running. In attack, when it's one-on-one, be proactive in taking on the challenge."

[Second Half]
Both teams start the second half without making any substitutions.
From the start, Akita maintained possession of the ball for a while, but Tokyo's defense line, centered around Ogawa, formed a defensive block to prevent the opponent's advance.
In the 57th minute, Akita launched a quick attack, bringing the ball forward and taking a shot from outside the penalty area that hit the right post. They avoided conceding a goal.
Tokyo, unable to create many chances, brought in Niji in place of Kobayashi in the 59th minute.
And in the 66th minute, Ishikawa replaced Uchida, making his return to the J.League official match pitch since the Vegalta Sendai match (J1) on July 29, 2015.
Enter directly to the left side.
Tokyo wanted to seize the momentum, but Akita continued to maintain possession of the ball.
In response to this, raise the defensive line, keep the team compact, and begin to create the shape from the counter to the finish.
In the 74th minute, Mizunuma crosses from the left, the ball deflects off an opponent and Ishikawa, positioned on the right, picks it up.
Ishikawa tries to cut in from the right but is blocked by the Akita defense.
In the 85th minute, from their own half, Insoo YU initiated a counterattack, dribbling through the center and drawing the opponent near the penalty area to pass to Lins, who was running on the right.
Hayashi takes a decisive shot with speed, but it's to the right of the goal.
Further attacking, Tokyo in the 87th minute, Ishikawa creates a play on the left side and connects with Koyama, who runs vertically towards the goal.
Koyama received the ball inside the left penalty area and passed it to Insoo YU in the center, but his negative pass to Ishikawa was cut off by the defender.
When Yanagi picks up the ball, he delivers an early cross to Hayashi in the center of the goal. Hayashi, with an opponent on his back, lays it off to Koyama for a shot.
Mizunuma scored the opening goal after the ball deflected off the opponent's DF and spilled to the right of the penalty area.
In stoppage time, Yanagi dribbled from his own half and passed to Mizunuma in the center. Mizunuma, free, made a run down the left side and took a decisive shot, but it missed the target.
The match ended as it was, marking Ishikawa's return with a victory since Sec. 17, and at the same time, it was Coach Nakamura's first official J-League win.

Thank you very much for your passionate support for FC Tokyo U-23.
We appreciate your continued enthusiastic support.

【Summary of Coach Nakamura's Press Conference・Comments】
"We were able to win the match at our home, Ajinomoto Stadium. I truly conveyed to the players that they fought hard for 90 minutes.
Since this is our home from the start of the match, we will actively go for it, aggressively aim for goals, exploit the opponent's weaknesses, and actively try to take the ball from the opponent.
Basically, we are training and competing in the same style as J1 teams.
In such a situation, there were still mistakes in technical aspects and decision-making that led to missed opportunities, making it a match where either team could have won.
However, I believe that the goal was scored because we kept moving towards the goal without stopping for the full 90 minutes.
And, there were more fans and supporters than we expected, which became a source of strength. Also, since Ishikawa played actively after a long time, I believe that contributed positively for the players on the pitch as well.

【Player Comments】
《Ishikawa》
"Of course, my return is important, but I believe that the fact that the entire team was able to execute the form that Coach Nakamura has been aiming for this week led to today's result."
I also thought that I wanted to be one of those strengths.
(How was your individual performance?)
I felt that I was able to enter the match more calmly than I had expected. I also felt that my presence was becoming a switch for the team. There were still areas where I needed to make decisive plays, but for now, I feel that I was able to show my play and attitude based on thinking about how I can contribute in any way.
I feel that it was good that it led to results.
(What are your aspirations for the next match?)
This is not the end; both as individuals and as a team, we want to tackle the new challenges and strengths that have emerged together as a team. Of course, the members from J3 are included, but there were also players from J1 who came today, so I want the team to unite and aim for higher goals together.
In order to continue being that kind of group, I want to stimulate each other by getting involved rather than just leading from the front.

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