After the break, the Emperor's Cup quarterfinals will be held at "home".

The Emperor's Cup resumes after a break of about a month and a half from the Round of 16 (4th Round) on November 9th.
Kawasaki Frontale will face off against Ajinomoto at the semifinal round at Ajinomoto Stadium. In the final stretch of the league, we were able to secure consecutive victories with both performance and results.

In preparation for the final tournament of the season, coach Shinoda said, "We want to showcase everything we have worked on and accumulated this season, and make it our 'magnum opus' tournament." We will continue to progress and aim for victory until the end of the season.

Unfortunately, during this break, Hashimoto and Kono underwent surgery and had to leave the front lines. On the other hand, Tokunaga returned and started as a left back. Maeda, who injured his ribs, also quickly improved his condition and was named in the starting lineup, with Muroya at right back, Mizunuma at right midfielder, and Nakajima at left. Takahashi and Tanabe will serve as a double pivot in the lineup.

Kawasaki, on the other hand, has advanced this far by winning against Akita Prefecture representative Blaublitz Akita in the 2nd round of the Emperor's Cup and defeating Urawa in a fierce battle in the 3rd round through a penalty shootout. In the league, they have also suffered a defeat in the first round of the championship, so they must have strong determination to win the title as well.

Kawasaki boasts a high scoring ability with individual skills led by MF Nakamura and centered around FW Okubo and Kobayashi. If the transition between offense and defense is delayed, it is expected that they will be able to bring about the desired outcome. We want to be conscious of our transition and ball control more than usual, and prevent goals by demonstrating our organized defensive strength. In addition, Coach Shinoda continues, "If we can aggressively play both offense and defense, the spectators will surely feel the excitement. We want to give it our all and aim for a semifinal round victory, surpassing Kawasaki with our dynamic style."

The weather was clear during the day, but the wind was cold and the temperature dropped, and the game started at 4:04 PM with Kawasaki's kickoff.

Unable to regain rhythm, 2 goals conceded in the first half...

Kawasaki has been pushed back from the start. Tokyo has been slow to start and move, and has been creating chances from both sides in response to the fluidity and speed of the front line and the passing work.

6 minutes: Kawasaki - FW Yu OKUBO in the left area tries to time a feint and crosses to the right area. MF Elsinho, who had escaped behind Tokyo DF, was given a scoring opportunity, but the shot went over the bar.
11 minutes: Kawasaki left MF Torisato was dug out on the side, allowing a breakthrough to a close distance to the goal, but Takahashi escaped with a sliding tackle for a corner kick.

After avoiding a dangerous situation, we gradually regained our composure and turned the ball over to attack.
12 minutes: Nakajima, in front of the right area, takes his first shot of the day from the right corner kick by Mizunuma. Immediately after, he tries a middle shot from the left side, but both are caught by the Kawasaki GK.
15 minutes: Nakajima on the left side passes to Maeda in the center, and then charges into the area. Maeda skillfully receives the ball and attempts a through pass into the area, but it is intercepted by a Kawasaki defender just before reaching Nakajima.
17 minutes: Tanabe cuts off the opponent's loose pass. Nakajima and Tanabe exchange passes, and Nakajima takes a shot from mid-range, but it goes over the frame. It seemed like they regained their rhythm.

20 minutes: Kawasaki DF Eduardo with a vertical pass from the final line. This is then passed to MF Elsinho, who then spreads it to MF Nakamura in the center. Nakamura then advances to the right side with the ball and crosses it from a high position, where FW Okubo jumps in front of the goal. Okubo competes with Muroya, but is pushed in with a high jump and shoots with his knee... The ball goes into the net. Due to a series of mistakes, they have conceded the first goal.

26 minutes: Still without panicking, Tanabe dribbles and spreads to Mizunuma on the right. Muroya overlaps from the outside and crosses. The ball that passed Maeda in front is slightly behind Nakajima in the far side. Nakajima aimed for an overhead shot with his back to the goal, but it curved to the left.

28 minutes: Kawasaki took the ball in their own half, and MF Eduardo Neto advanced from a pass exchange with left MF Torisato to the front of the goal, connecting with right MF Elsinho. Tokyo was unable to press and allowed a shot from MF Elsinho just outside the area to the bottom left...resulting in their second goal conceded.

After that, Kawasaki continued to hold onto the ball. Tokyo had a low position to steal and could not bring the ball to the front line. Nakajima took five shots, but other than that, they were unable to create an attacking form and ended the first half with a two-point lead.

Hirayama's goal was a small victory, but the counterattack did not bear fruit, ending in the best 8.

Substitute Ogawa for left back from the second half. He showed an aggressive attitude and tried to counterattack.
46 minutes: Send a pass to the front line from the kickoff ball in the second half, and Mizunuma gets a corner kick.
49 minutes: Ogawa overlapped from a quick switch and sent a ground cross into the area, but it just missed reaching Higashi and Nakajima.

55 minutes: The ball was taken in their own half, and Tanabe switched the attack to the right. Muraya, who had advanced the attack at the right time, sent a cross. Although it was blocked, Tanabe went around to the right front line and crossed again. Mizunuma in the center tried an overhead shot, but... the shot grazed the bar and bounced back.

57 minutes: The momentum increased on both offense and defense, with 5 Erik making a vertical attack and earning a right corner kick. From Mizunuma's kick, Morishige headed the ball. Just before being blocked by the Kawasaki DF, Higashi passed the ball to Maeda, who was short and right in front of the goal area...but the shot couldn't be completed.

Kawasaki, who maintained a 2-point lead, created a block to defend and both teams started to counter as time passed. While Kawasaki quickly reached the finish line, Tokyo attempted various challenges such as crosses from the side and through passes into the area, but they were unable to capitalize on their chances for a prolonged period of time.

63 minutes: Replaced Maeda with Hirayama.
68 minutes: Mizunuma sent an early cross from the right side, Hirayama headed it, but it was offside.
74 minutes: From Maruyama's interception, Higashi → Mizunuma sends a pass to Nakajima in the center, but the timing is slightly off. Still, Nakajima manages to steal the second ball and takes a shot, but it goes wide of the goal.

75 minutes: Abe is substituted for Mizunuma. They tried to increase speed and momentum towards the goal. However, Kawasaki also launched a precise counterattack.
82 minutes: FW Yu OKUBO's dribble shot hits the left post...exposing the team to danger.
90 minutes: Still not giving up, Ogawa boldly attacks and earns a FK on the left side of the opponent's field. Ogawa himself takes the FK and Hiraoka heads it in front of the opponent's GK, GOAL!! Finally, they successfully score one point. With the momentum from the stands, they push forward and continue their strong attack for 4 additional minutes in front of the Kawasaki goal.

However, in the end, despite a scramble from a cross by Abe from the right area, they were unable to push through... Although they managed to score one point with Hirayama's goal, their counterattack was not enough. They suffered a defeat due to the two goals they conceded in the first half, ending their season in the Emperor's Cup Best 8.

[Player Comments]

"Hirayama"
"It was a game where we had to chase two points, so I wanted to score one point as soon as possible. I tried to make plays from both sides and was conscious of making plays that would lead to a goal in the center. The goal was scored by taking advantage of the opponent's zone defense and Ogawa made a good kick. However, it would have been better if we could have scored earlier... It's a shame that we couldn't respond to the cheers of many fans and supporters with a victory."

"Mori Shige"
"I'm sure that each player, as well as the team and the fans and supporters, had a strong desire for the title. Unfortunately, we were not able to meet those expectations today and I feel sorry for that. However, today, I feel that we were outplayed by Kawasaki in each position. Each of us should think and feel, "I could have done more, there must have been something I could have done"... and use that to move forward. We won't be able to win if we don't use the experience of defeat. This year, there were various events and we ended up with disappointing results, but I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who supported us and cheered for us throughout the year."

[Summary of Manager Yoshiyuki SHINODA's Press Conference]

"It was a frustrating defeat. We had hoped to win here and move on, including the players, staff, and fans and supporters, but unfortunately it ended in a disappointing result and I feel responsible. From the start of the game, we were attacked by Kawasaki's fast ball movement. The distance between our opponents and teammates was not right, and we were often caught off guard. We tried to gradually increase our possession time and create chances, but the way we conceded goals was not good. It became difficult after the first half ended 0-2. In the second half, we brought in Ogawa to increase our attacking gear and allow our side players to take higher positions, but we were still far from scoring and even invited danger. I feel that there was a difference in the team's strength and what we have built up. There are many things that are lacking, including myself, but I want to clearly determine how we will build from here and carry it over to next season. Some players will be leaving the team, and I don't know yet what the composition will be for next season, but I want to do what we can and use this defeat to our advantage in the future."

[Kawasaki Frontale - Yahiro Kazama's Press Conference Summary]

"We conceded one goal from a set piece, but other than that, we were able to control the game well. It was a difficult situation for the players in their first game in a while, but they had a good start and fought hard for the win. It was a good game."
(In the second half, we were pushed back for about 15 minutes. However, the result throughout the 90 minutes is what matters, so we are not aiming for perfection. We knew that Tokyo would come out aggressively at the start of the second half. On the contrary, it would have been even better if we could have scored there. The players understood that this situation could happen. It was a little disappointing that we couldn't score at that time, rather than being pushed back.)