Challenging Yokohama F.Marinos, aiming for a perfect victory, at the start of the 2nd stage

Tokyo, who finished the 1st stage in 6th place. After a break of about one month, today's opponent is Yokohama F.Marinos, who achieved stage domination. It is an important opening match that will affect the future, and we want to win and gain momentum.

In the 1st stage, Yokohama sank with a counterattack from Tokyo. However, everyone is tightening their focus, thinking that "it won't go as smoothly as it did back then" against the champion team who is determined to repay the debt. How can they snatch victory from within that situation? Also, it is worth paying attention to how they will address the challenges that have been raised so far in the battle, such as conceding goals from restarts, the composition power in the midfield, and the isolation of the FW, and how they will make adjustments towards the 2nd stage.

There was a new addition, Tadatoshi MASUDA, in the starting lineup. He joined on a loan transfer from Kashima and has only been with the team for less than two weeks, but Coach Kiyoshi OKUMA has high expectations for him as a player who can break through situations even when defended. He replaced Yukihiko SATO, who was nursing a back injury, and played as the right midfielder in the Japan National Stadium, in the rain.

Do not miss the opportunity, TUTO takes the lead with a skillful goal!

1 minute, Yokohama made a strong start as DF Komura ran in to create an opportunity from MF Nakamura's free kick. They tried to control the ball and set the pace from the beginning, but Tokyo quickly regained possession with fast checks from the front line and composed defense, bringing the match to an even contest. In the 5th minute, Masamitsu KOBAYASHI boldly aimed for the goal with an overhead kick from a long cross from TUTO. Perhaps spurred on by this, Tokyo quickly switched gears and threatened the Yokohama goal. In the 8th minute, Naomichi Amara and Fujiyama connected with a direct pass, and Masamitsu KOBAYASHI took a shot. It narrowly missed the center of the goal, but showed great determination. Then, in the 13th minute, TUTO pressured Yokohama's passing source in midfield, and the ball spilled to Masamitsu KOBAYASHI, who timely opened up to TUTO on the right side again. TUTO, with momentum, skillfully evaded three opposing DFs with a feint and cut inside for a shot! Tokyo took the lead with a counterattack characteristic of their style in the early stages.

However, after that, Yokohama continued to attack. In the 14th minute, FW Toyoike headed a sharp cross from MF Miura. In the 23rd minute, Komura headed a left corner kick from Miura, almost scoring but narrowly missing above the goal. In the 26th minute, Edmilson controlled a floating ball with one touch, evaded Komine, and took a free shot. However, goalkeeper Doi made a nice save! They successfully survived a critical situation.

Tokyo often picks up loose balls and entrusts them to the front line with a fast development centered around Asari. They start counterattacks from the sides, but they fail to score. In the 41st minute, Kobayashi dribbled the ball into the penalty area from a throw-in and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot, but it was blocked by the goalkeeper, and the first half ended with a score of 1-0.

Koike, valuable additional point with his first J1 goal, and Amaral who pulled away

From the start of the second half, Yokohama created a chance on the right side with Nagayama. The shot from the left side of Tokyo's defense into the penalty area was reacted by Sandro just before the goal, narrowly avoiding a corner kick. In the following 2 minutes, Nagayama shook off the defenders and passed the ball on the ground towards the goal. However, it narrowly missed the jumping midfielder Endo. Despite that, Yokohama continued to launch a fierce attack to turn the game around and the defense became even more intense. However, in the 50th minute, Koike, Amaral, and TUTO's speedy passing created an opportunity by exploiting the gap in Yokohama's defense. Koike then passed and went behind the 3-back line, and received a perfectly timed through pass from TUTO. He dribbled with precision and took a shot that hit the right corner of the post and went into the goal!! Koike, who has always made significant contributions with his dedicated defense, scored his first J1 goal, which became a valuable additional point that disrupted Yokohama's start in the second half. It was also a play that took a step forward from the challenge that Coach Okuma had been talking about, which was to not rely solely on the two forwards for long-distance plays from the midfield and to use more players.

Yokohama made a substitution in the 52nd minute, replacing MF Nagai with Nagai. They became more attacking, and in the 55th minute, Nakamura headed in from the center from a cross from the right. Immediately after, Amaral and TUTO from Tokyo approached the goal on a counterattack, but neither of them scored. The backline continued to build attacks, trying to demonstrate their usual attacking style, while Tokyo gradually stretched their defensive line. They were unable to connect quick attacks with multiple players, but they remained focused and continued to play. In the 82nd minute, Miura's direct free kick was saved by the crossbar. Yokohama had already made a substitution, replacing Yuri with MF Harada. In the 85th minute, they made another substitution, replacing Sotoin with FW Okayama. They used all their substitution slots to try to break through, but they couldn't create any decisive opportunities. In stoppage time, TUTO, who had been injured in a fierce foul, was replaced by Toda. It seemed like they would hold on to the lead, but then Naito miscalculated a ball cleared from the defensive line. Amaral quickly seized the opportunity, leaving the chasing defenders behind and calmly scoring the third goal.

Proof of growth, fought against the champion team on equal terms or better and won decisively!!

After Amaral's shot, his foot hit the head of GK Kawaguchi who jumped in, causing an injury. Yokohama used Komura as the GK. As a result of this incident, the long stoppage time that lasted until the 8th minute became a hectic development with yellow cards flying around, but Tokyo substituted Kobayashi with FW Kanno. They calmly fought until the end and the time was up. They started the current stage with a clean sheet victory, which is a good start.

Compared to the 1st stage, coach Kiyoshi OKUMA said, "The way we fight won't change significantly. We can't change it." In other words, there is no secret strategy to win, but it means "gradually correcting the challenges step by step, steadily building up the team's strength, and fighting through each match." Today, it can be said that we have proven our growth by being able to withstand the fight against the 1st stage champion with an equal fight, even if we were pushed back. It marked the beginning of the 2nd stage, raising expectations for future battles.