"Entering the biggest challenge of the season!"

With only 6 games remaining in the J2 League, a fierce dead heat continues for promotion to J1 and the J2 championship. At one point, it was said that Kawasaki Frontale and FC Tokyo had almost secured promotion to J1, but the top two teams have recently faltered. On the other hand, Oita in 3rd place and Niigata in 4th place have been steadily earning points, and the J2 League has once again become a close battle. Tokyo, struggling with unexpected consecutive losses due to "fatigue from the Nabisco Cup & ace Amaral's injury & absence from the front lines" or "the pressure of promotion," is currently in 2nd place with 58 points (as of the end of the 30th round). In order to "win the championship," they must not widen the gap with the 1st place Kawasaki Frontale (60 points) any further, and in order to "be promoted (i.e. finish in the top 2)," they must not let 3rd place Oita (52 points) close the gap. In this situation, they face a strong opponent, Sapporo, on this day. Sapporo has been consistently in the middle of the pack without being able to demonstrate their strength since the beginning of the season, and they have already lost their goal of "promotion to J1 and winning the J2 championship." However, they have many excellent players including ace Yoshihara, who performed well in the Olympic preliminary round and also participated in the South American Championship as a full representative, and former Japan national team defender Namtsuka. Their team strength is still top class even in J2. The head-to-head record so far is 2 wins and 1 loss, but they suffered a heavy defeat of 1-4 in the direct confrontation in August, so it was expected that they would struggle on this day as well. They also have a match against Kawasaki Frontale, which will be a decisive battle, in the next round, so Tokyo has entered the "Sapporo, Kawasaki Frontale back-to-back matches," which is the biggest challenge of the season.

Unable to score a single point...

In the game the day before, 3rd place Oita secured a victory with a V goal (52 points → 54 points), so Tokyo had no choice but to go for a win. They approached the game with an ultra-attacking formation, changing from a lone striker to a two-striker formation to increase the attacking options up front, and dropping the energetic Almir to the defensive midfield position to strengthen the attacking power while maintaining defensive coverage in the midfield. As expected, the match started with intense attacking and defending befitting a crucial battle. Sapporo took the initiative. Sapporo aggressively pressed from the front to win the ball, and quickly sent back their ace Yoshihara, who had returned to the team from the Olympic squad, and Fukagawa, who relied on powerful runs, to create a foundation up front. They then involved attacking midfielders and fullbacks in their speedy attacks. In the 3rd minute, they induced a defensive mistake from Tokyo's defense with intense pressing, and a decisive shot was taken after the ball was played to the right side, but it hit the post and was not a goal. Immediately after that, Tokyo's defensive midfielder Almir intercepted a sharp pass from Sapporo's midfielder Bijou in the midfield and regained possession as he defended diligently. After this, the intense "Brazilian foreign player showdown" between Almir and Bijou in the midfield continued to spark throughout the 90 minutes.

Tokyo, which survived a dangerous situation, began to function with an ultra-attacking formation from around 10 minutes. Tokyo consciously repeated bold side changes in the midfield, and in the 12th minute, Enomoto passed a perfect cross to Kobayashi, who was running deep on the left side from the right, and Kobayashi dropped it with his chest and took a powerful left-footed shot. Unfortunately, it was blocked by the goalkeeper, but after that, Tokyo created chances by finishing from several wonderful side changes. In the 27th minute, Asari also took a volley shot from the center after a side attack, and Enomoto broke through the defense and faced the goalkeeper one-on-one. However, Enomoto did not take a shot and passed it back to the center, so the goalkeeper caught it. In the following 33rd minute, Asari made a big side change from the left to the right side, and Enomoto ran into the center directly with a pass. Yukihiko shot the ball back to the center, but it didn't go in. Furthermore, in the 37th minute, Kagamiki expanded to the left from the right side, and once again, Enomoto passed a floating pass to Kobayashi, who ran into the center from an exquisite trap, but the Sapporo defender desperately cleared it. In the 40th minute, Yukihiko, who broke through from a one-two with Almir in a tight space on the right side, brought the ball to the goal line and centered it. Almir took a shot, and it seemed like a goal, but it was miraculously cleared by the Sapporo defender. Tokyo, which focused on attacking from the side with Almir at the center, created numerous scoring opportunities, but they couldn't break the goal and ended the first half 0-0.

Conceding a goal from the same time zone and formation as the previous match, once again we lament losing by one point...

In the first half, Sapporo, which had been thoroughly defensive in their away game, began to attack in the second half. The transition between offense and defense became remarkably faster. In the first half, the defensive midfielder, Biju, who had been participating in attacks half-heartedly, was made to focus solely on defense, while the attacking participation of both full-backs was liberalized. With Biju, who excels in defensive ability, concentrating on defense, Tokyo found it difficult to break through, leading to careless dribbles and passing mistakes being cut off, resulting in counterattacks that put them in danger. In the 66th minute, a bad mood began to set in when Fujiyama on the left side joined the attack and sent in a cross, which turned into a significant passing mistake that flowed to the opposite side. Sapporo's left-back, Murata, picked up the ball with a dribble and exchanged passes with Biju in the center before sending a large cross in front of the Tokyo goal. When Komine and Yoshihara contested for the ball, it floated, and Sapporo's midfielder, Suguru, headed it. The ball hit the bar and bounced back, but Yoshihara, who was there, kicked it in, resulting in a goal. They conceded a goal in a similar time and manner as the previous match (in the last match against Tosu, they conceded in the 70th minute from a counterattack on the left side). With this, Sapporo gained momentum, supported by the enthusiastic cheers of over 500 fans who rushed from Sapporo, and became even more aggressive. In the 69th minute, they cut off another pass mistake by Fujiyama and were faced with a decisive shot from a counterattack, but goalkeeper Suzuki made a fantastic save. Dangerous moments continued, including allowing Nagatsuka a powerful header from a subsequent corner kick. The midfield was toyed with by Sapporo's midfielder Tanada's individual skills, and Yoshihara was lively in aiming for the goal. Yoshihara, who had been suddenly dropped from the Olympic qualifying squad and was not in the right mindset, had been completely shut down by Komine in the first half, but it seemed that the one goal woke him up. Time passed mischievously, and around the 80th minute, Tokyo attempted a full-scale attack by bringing up defender Sandro, but in their haste to score, they only threw in simple crosses and could not break through Sapporo's defensive line, which Biju stood firm against. In the end, Sapporo, who maintained their concentration until the end, held on to their one-goal lead, and Tokyo suffered their first three consecutive losses of the season. They wanted to somehow get through this day's match against Sapporo and the next match against Kawasaki Frontale to ride a wave of momentum, but that plan stumbled from the start. However, it can be said that the real battle is still to come. Since Kawasaki Frontale won that day, the gap to the top widened while the gap to third place narrowed, but they still maintained second place. The attacking power shown in the first half confirmed that they could create that many chances even without Amaral, and the defense was not bad. If they can score even one goal in any form, it should definitely provide a catalyst for a comeback. If they win the direct confrontation against Kawasaki Frontale next, they will undoubtedly ride the wave of momentum. Tokyo's goals remain unchanged! They will definitely make it happen!

Coach's Comment

Okada Consadole Manager

In the second half, I instructed the midfielder Vijay not to go up and instructed the fullbacks to go forward aggressively. Since it was an away game, we initially played defensively, but the players understood well and moved accordingly. We had been practicing for this week without Yoshihara, so I was unsure whether to use him or not. However, considering his quick mental switch and tactical understanding, I decided to use him, and I'm really happy that he made the decisive plays. I want to express my gratitude to all the players who fought without losing concentration until the end today.

<Coach Okuma>

FW did reasonably well. The number of chances and the shape of the attack were good, but there was a lack of decisiveness in situations where they could shoot and instead looked for a pass, which can be attributed to their lack of experience. Also, it was disappointing that we couldn't break through the defense both individually and as a team until the end. The way the ball was taken away in that position was poor, and we couldn't create opportunities, so the involvement of the fullbacks in the attack was also limited. It's frustrating to lose, but we are still in second place, and I believe that the real test is yet to come. I want to switch my mindset and move forward.