Levain Cup Semifinal, Aiming for the Final

The semifinal round of the YBC Levain Cup is being held. Urawa Reds will face off, with the first match being held at home in Ajinomoto Stadium.
This tournament marks the participation of both Tokyo and Urawa in the ACL, so they joined in from the quarterfinals. Tokyo defeated Fukuoka and Urawa defeated Kobe, advancing to the semifinal round.

Tokyo is without Japan national team players Morishige and Maruyama. In addition, Tokunaga injured his knee in the previous league match against Hiroshima and was forced to withdraw. As a result, Takahashi and Yoshimoto are starting as center backs. Muroya is starting as right back, Ogawa on the left. Tanabe and Hashimoto are in midfield, with Hayashi on the right and Nakajima on the left. Maeda is up top, with Higashi behind him. Kajiyama and Kono are on the bench.
Nawaz and Mizunuma will also be on the bench as substitutes.

Urawa is currently in top form, leading both the 2nd stage and overall rankings in the league. With Japan national team's GK Nishikawa, DF Makino, and MF Kashiwagi absent, and coach Zoran PETROVIC being suspended for the second leg of the quarterfinals, he was not allowed to be on the bench for this first leg. As a result, coach Hori took charge, with a back three consisting of DF Moriwaki, DF Endo, and DF Nasu. Up top is FW Zlatan. In the shadow positions are MF Muto and MF Lee. MF Aoki and MF Abe are in the defensive midfield. MF Komai on the right wing and MF Sekine on the left wing make up the starting lineup.

In the J-League Cup, we aim for the final for the first time in 7 seasons, and at the same time, we faced Urawa on September 17 (Sat) in the league (2nd stage, Sec. 12) and suffered a 1-3 comeback loss. This is also a match where we want to use the lessons learned and the sense of accomplishment gained to achieve revenge.

Due to the influence of the typhoon, the game started at 7:34 PM in Tokyo under the weather with occasional light rain.

Withstand Urawa's attack and gradually grasp the rhythm

From the start, we aggressively pressed and tried to steal the opponent's ball. From there, we were conscious of the speed of switching and moved the ball forward, but there was a long period of time where we couldn't finish. On the other hand, Urawa used long balls and side changes to threaten the Tokyo goal.
6 minutes: Right MF Abe makes a big side change to the left front line. DF Moriwaki's cross flowed to the far side, but this time the starting point was made on the left front line and a right cross was put in. This was stuck by MF Li in the area and dropped to MF Sekine who took a shot, but Akimoto made the save.

15 minutes: FW Zlatan, carrying the Tokyo DF on his back, turns around and shoots from the front of the area.
18 minutes: Urawa clears the ball to Maeda. This leads to Tokyo's MF Lee, who passes it to FW Zlatan in the center, who then takes a decisive shot to the left MF Mutoh... but it goes just slightly to the left.
24 minutes: From a one-two in the center of Urawa, MF Komai sends a sharp right cross. The ball was deflected by Akimoto's right hand, but it fell to the far side where Urawa FW Lee jumped in and created a scoring opportunity.

However, Tokyo, who overcame this pinch, gradually surpassed with their quick start and began to grasp the rhythm.
35 minutes: Tanabe → Nakajima, a through pass is sent to Hayashi who runs behind the opponent and jumps into the area. However, Hayashi cannot turn forward... Still, he controls the ball and passes it to Maeda who runs up on the right, but Maeda is blocked by the opponent in a contest... He couldn't take advantage of a decisive
chance. Immediately after that, Hayashi, who had moved up to the right front line, crosses. The opponent GK and Higashi compete, and Nakajima reacts to the ball that slipped from the GK's hands. He takes a shot, but the play just before that was a foul.

Unable to contain Urawa's speedy attack, there were also scenes where they were brought to the finish, but still did not allow a goal. Tokyo gradually took control with a dynamic battle, but ended the first half scoreless. The match was carried over to the second half.

Captain Higashi scores with determination! But... they take the lead...

The game started moving in the second half.
47 minutes: Tokyo earns a FK from just outside the area on the right due to the opponent's hand foul. East takes the shot directly, but it is blocked by the opponent's GK with one hand, resulting in a left CK. From here, Yoshimoto attempts a header to match East's kick.
49 minutes: Higashi expands to the right. Muroya sends an early cross, and Hayashi in the right area heads it to the near post. Higashi jumps in from the center, followed by Takahashi, and Higashi heads it into the goal. Higashi, who is the captain in this match, takes a determined goal and scores the opening point.

However, Urawa will counterattack from here. They will start from the sides and Tokyo will be pushed back into their own territory.
53 minutes: Gave consecutive CKs, but cleared them with their bodies. After that, they continued to concentrate and did not allow Urawa to bring the finish.

64 minutes: Tokyo launches a counterattack, Nakajima dribbles and brings the ball in, and Higashi moves up from the right. They create a 2-2 scene with Urawa, but Nakajima's pass to Higashi on the right is slightly off, causing a slowdown. Higashi then tries to get into a shooting position with a one-two with Nakajima, but is blocked by the opponent.
Urawa quickly counterattacks from here. Tokyo DF blocks the shot from FW Takagi on the left front line.
67 minutes: Nakajima, who had jumped out to the left area from a quick restart, aimed for a spot without an angle, but was saved by the opposing GK.

68 minutes: As the game progressed, the line gradually stretched and became a back-and-forth counterattack. In place of Hayabusa, Kono was substituted in. They tried to create their own time and control the game.
72 minutes: Urawa continues to make aggressive moves, bringing in FW Koroki as their third player substitution.
77 minutes: Urawa midfielder Muto's vertical pass is received by forward Koroki with his chest and turned around. He advances to the left side and switches with outside forward Takagi. He then goes inside and takes a shot, with the precise shot going into the top right corner of the goal. Urawa's first shot of the second half is scored... and the game is now tied.

80 minutes: This time, Urawa's left-sided FW Takagi moves to the right front line. MF Hirakawa received the ball and was marked by Ogawa, but the ball was dribbled inside and a ground pass was made in front of the goal. MF Muto, who was free in space, was able to score a direct shot...conceding a goal in quick succession...

80 minutes: Replaced Maeda with Hirayama.
82 minutes: Nathan BURNS is substituted for Nakajima. Formation changed to 4-4-2.
88 minutes: East, who ran into the left area, missed his shot to the left. In additional time, Hirayama jumped into the near post from Kono's right cross, but the ball went to the opponent's goalkeeper. Furthermore, Barnes dribbled to the front line, and East on the left and Kono on the right tried to score a goal, but were blocked by the Urawa defenders.

The attacking attitude until the end was not lost, but they suffered 2 goals and lost in a comeback, resulting in losing 3 points at home.

[Player Comments]
"East"
"When I received the ball on the left side and cut in, I saw Muroya. Our aim against Urawa was to use the sides well, and we were conscious of that today. If we can improve our accuracy, we can score more goals, including crosses and how we enter the middle. We have no choice but to level up in practice, but we want to adjust even in a short time and use it for the next game. The opponent must have disliked our pressing from the front. We want to review and organize our tactics after taking the lead. This is not the end. We want to prepare to win with a positive mindset for the next game."

"Hanyu"
"I was thinking about what I could show to help this team reach the finals. Throughout the game, I was conscious of settling the ball and then moving forward."
(Regarding the late goal)
Regardless of whether I was on the field or not, we were constantly pushed back during that time. The opponent often starts their attacks from the midfield or deep in our territory, which increases the chances of conceding a goal. I think we needed to play at a higher position and create our own opportunities. We want to play football closer to Urawa's goal.

[Summary of Manager Yoshiyuki SHINODA's Press Conference]
"We lost the first game and it became a difficult situation. We started the game well and had some chances, but we managed to overcome them. We were able to get back to our pace and continue the game after that. (After taking the lead) We thought about changing the situation where we were being pushed back, so we substituted Kawano for Hayu to create our own time. In the midst of not being able to move forward, we wanted to create time on the side rather than increasing the number of players in the back, so we used a substitution card. We conceded due to our own mistakes. The first goal was scored by cutting inside, and the second goal was received from a counterattack after a pass mistake and a pass from the side. We wanted to keep the ball in the front and create more pressure. We tried to counterattack a few times, but we couldn't score the second goal and ended up with this result. We have some regrets, but we want to switch gears and do our best in the next game."

[Urawa Takafumi Hori Coach Press Conference Summary]
"We talked about approaching the semifinal as 180 minutes and focusing on the first 90 minutes today, and not panicking. We expected Tokyo to come out aggressively from the start, so we knew it would be a tough game. The opponent had a lot of possession and there were some difficult moments, but the players were able to endure and finish the first half. We made some adjustments at halftime and went into the second half. We conceded a goal in the second half, but we were able to turn it around and score two goals. We talked about taking advantage and returning home with a win, and thanks to the players' efforts, we were able to achieve that. The players played with their own thoughts while the coach was absent. FW Takagi's goal was a result of his strengths, and MF Hirakawa created the second goal by creating opportunities on the side. The players were thinking about what they needed to do in each situation. I think this is also a result of the coach always asking them to utilize their roles and strengths in their positions. We were conscious of the coach being able to return in a good situation, and I think that's why we were able to give it our all."