Emperor's Cup 2nd Round is held. Fight that leads to the league!

The Emperor's Cup of this season has started. J Team will face FC KAGOSHIMA (representative of Kagoshima Prefecture) in the 2nd Round, which will be their first match. In the league, they achieved a 5-game winning streak despite struggling against Tokushima in the previous round. Coach Okuma stated, "We want to continue this momentum in the Emperor's Cup and give our best to prepare for the league match against Okayama." The first match against lower category teams is usually a challenging game, but they vowed to win with an attacking style of play.

　Konno and Gonda are absent due to the activities of the Japan national team. Therefore, Tokunaga will be deployed as a center back and Nakamura as a right back. In addition, both Shioda, who was injured, and Tanabe, who was suspended from the league, have returned and will start the game. Roberto CESAR has also made the squad for the first time since August 13.

　FC KAGOSHIMA (hereinafter referred to as Kagoshima) is a social team based in Kagoshima City, aiming to join the J-League in the future. The team's history is relatively new, and they have been a member of the Kyushu Soccer League (a regional league one level below the JFL) since last year. This is their first appearance in the Emperor's Cup.

　In the 1st Round, they defeated Saga LIXIL (representing Saga Prefecture) from the same Kyushu League with a score of 5-0 and advanced to the 2nd Round. Kagoshima's basic formation is 4-2-3-1, but they are also capable of playing with a 5-back formation when necessary, showing flexibility in defending. As a result, there is a possibility of being drawn back and having their defense tightened, but the focus will be on how they can break through that. The match will take place at Ajinomoto Stadium on a clear autumn day and kicked off in Tokyo at 13:02.

Tanihara scores the opening goal with quick passing! Morishige adds another goal from the side

　Tokyo dominated the ball from the beginning. Kagoshima tightly man-marked Lucas and had a strong defensive awareness with a formation of almost 5 at the back, but Tokyo tried to break through from the movement of their front line. In the 3rd minute, Tokyo bypassed Kagoshima's tough defense against Lucas and Hanyu made a through pass into the area. Nakamura ran into the goalmouth from the inside, but it was cleared with a corner kick. On the contrary, in the 8th minute, Kagoshima faced a strong attack. The ball was dropped to FW Taniguchi as a wedge to the front line, and left MF Tagami made a through pass into the area. It was a dangerous situation, but Nakamura threw himself in to prevent it from being completed.

　In the 14th minute, after a pass exchange between Tokunaga and Tanabe, Lucas in the center connected and Kajiyama sent a final pass to the right area. It bounced off the opponent's defender, but Tanihara, who had timed his run well, scored a well-aimed shot into the net on the opposite side to take the lead.

　In the 17th minute, Kajiyama was fouled in the area and won a penalty kick. However, Lucas took the penalty kick but it was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper in the bottom left corner, and no additional points were scored. However, without getting discouraged, they continued to attack and in the 30th minute, Morishige joined the attack by passing to Kajiyama. Kajiyama moved to the right and Morishige, who had advanced to the area from Nakamura's cross, scored a powerful header! They built up from the defensive line and attacked unexpectedly, using the side as a starting point, and scored the second goal.

　However, after Tokyo took a 2-point lead, Kagoshima also aggressively attacked. In the 40th minute, a free kick was given inside Tokyo's territory, and from here, a cross was made from the left side. In the 43rd minute, a shot was brought to the goal from a free kick, but it was just outside the frame. Helped by the missed shot, they went into the second half with a score of 2-0.

Despite conceding a counterattack from Kagoshima, Lucas and Tanihara's goals pushed us ahead, advancing to the 3rd round.

　In the second half, Kagoshima also changed their formation to a 4-back and made player substitutions to attack. Tokyo also brought in Ishikawa to replace Hayu in the 59th minute and moved Tanihara to the attacking midfield position. Then, in the 69th minute, they substituted Sakata for Tanabe and continued to aim for a goal.

　Attacking mainly from the side, in the 63rd minute, Tanabe jumped in from behind YANAZAWA and hit a header in front of the goal, after receiving a right cross from KAJIYAMA → NAKAMURA, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. The time of not being able to score a chance continued, but in the 76th minute, KAJIYAMA expanded to the right. ISHIKAWA sent a right cross from the pass exchange between ISHIKAWA and NAKAMURA. Near side, Lucas competed with the opponent's DF and headed the ball to the opposite side of the goal! Once again, starting from the side, they pushed Kagoshima away.

　In the 78th minute, Roberto CESAR came on for Lucas, further speeding up the game. In the 83rd minute, Nakamura entered the right area freely after a quick pass work by Takahashi, Cesar, and Ishikawa. He attempted a shot but it was blocked... Throughout the second half, there were moments when Kagoshima tried to retaliate with sharp counters, but we calmly fought and kept a clean sheet.

　Towards the end of the match, Tanizawa intercepted the opponent's ball. Cesar advanced on the left side and connected with Sakata in front of the goal. Although Sakata couldn't take a shot, he skillfully controlled the ball and Tanizawa took the shot. A well-executed mid-range shot with just the right amount of power found the top right corner of the net, and Tanizawa himself scored two goals. By pushing forward with their attack, they sealed the match and achieved a 4-0 victory, advancing to the third round.

　【Player Comment】《Yazawa》"The opponent's defense was mostly man-to-man, so I thought that as long as I didn't lose in one-on-one situations, it would be fine. It's inevitable to be countered in the game. I think it was good that we were able to keep a clean sheet and win. As for the goal, for the first goal, the ball came to me from Kajiyama's pass, so I aimed for the opposite side. For the second goal, it was already towards the end of the game, so I was able to relax and take the shot. As a team, we have always wanted to play more from crosses and the sides. Today, we were able to score in that way, and I think it was a form that leads to the next game."

　"Shiota: 'In the tournament, the most important thing is to advance to the next stage. Before the match, we confirmed with each other that 'there is no meaning other than victory' and stood on the pitch. The opponent formed a block and aimed for counterattacks. The system was different from what we had analyzed in advance, but our attacking lineup was similar to Okayama, with one top and two shadows. Although the number was small, we were not defeated there and kept the goals conceded to zero. The opponent dropped back, so it should have been difficult for us, but we scored goals from the sides and through vertical movements, showing a variety of scoring patterns.'"

　[Summary of Coach Okuma's Press Conference] "I had analyzed FC KAGOSHIMA's game through videos, but today the system changed, and we started with a defensive approach in a 5-4-1 formation, which limited our space. We were a bit confused by that, but we have experienced similar situations in J2. We wanted to make adjustments in a short amount of time. It was difficult to create gaps against their 5-back formation when our fullbacks were dropping back. Especially midfielder Tagami is a good player both in attack and defense, so we tried to keep him away from the goal. We positioned Tanizawa around the top and encouraged Nakamura to take a higher position, while asking Tagami to drop deeper, in order to exploit the gaps that were created."

　I think we were able to pass the ball well from the build-up of Tokunaga and Morishige at the same time. However, while holding the ball, we were often caught in a bad way and gave the opponent the chance to counterattack or create a free kick from there. We need to reflect on the fact that we created opportunities for the opponent to exploit our weaknesses. We want to review the speed of transitioning between offense and defense, how we lose the ball, and our preparations against counterattacks, and carry it over to the league matches."

　[Summary of FC KAGOSHIMA Coach Tokushige's Press Conference] "There are aspects where we are being overshadowed by FC Tokyo in terms of name, so we started the first half with a 5-back formation. However, the players gained confidence and felt that they could pass the ball and attack. Just at that moment, we conceded a goal. I think that's where Tokyo is strong. In the second half, we switched to a 4-back formation and tried to have 5 midfielders to connect the ball and go for a goal. We were able to pass the ball more than I expected, and I think we were able to create good opportunities, especially from the left side. However, there are differences in individual skills, strength, and speed. I wanted to minimize it as much as possible, but I think it was a fight where conceding 4 goals couldn't be helped. Many people came to support us from Kagoshima, and I could hear the loud cheers of the supporters who always support us, as well as the passionate cheers of FC Tokyo's supporters. It was a joy to be able to play soccer in such a stadium."