A crucial match that we cannot afford to lose!

　Sec. 4 of the 2nd stage is a match against Verdy 1969. Verdy, currently in 3rd place and in good form. With 2 wins and 1 loss, they have 6 points, the same as Tokyo in 6th place, but their numbers in 3 matches are 9 goals scored and a goal difference of +6, which is the league's top. In the previous match, they suffered a comeback defeat against Kashima, conceding 2 goals after taking the lead, and had to play with 10 men from the middle of the first half, but their football centered around Edmundo, who was placed as an attacking midfielder, functioned organically. Their attacking power has become a significant threat.

　But today's game is a battle that we cannot afford to lose, regardless of our ranking or the number of stars. It may have been the same feeling for both the Verdy coach and players, as well as the fans. The match between clubs based in Tokyo, a clash of determination, took place at Tokyo Stadium, where the autumn atmosphere was in the air, and it kicked off in Tokyo.

Vanquish Verdy! 

The opponents for the fourth game of the second stage were Tokyo Verdy 1969.
Leading scorers Verdy, lying third in the table at kick off, were unfortunate to lose to Kashima Antlers in their previous match by the odd goal in five after being reduced to ten men. Paced by Brazilian Edmundo playing just behind the forwards, their attacking prowess was expected to prove a menace to the TOKYO defence.
With Verdy now based in the capital as well this is a fixture neither side wants to lose; from manager Hara to the players and the fans, the determination on the F.C.TOKYO side was palpable as the game kicked off in an electric atmosphere on a cool autumn evening.

Despite dominating, they conceded the first goal on Verdy's counterattack

　From the start, both teams showed an aggressive attitude and engaged in intense back-and-forth on the field, truly a "offense-defense" battle. In the 4th minute, Tokyo's Amaral, who received a pass from Ishikawa on the right side, charged towards the center and was brought down near the penalty arc on the right side. The ball spilled in front of Ishikawa, who had moved up to support, creating a great shooting opportunity, but the whistle for a foul on Amaral was blown a split second earlier. From the resulting free kick, Miyazawa aimed for the goal but narrowly missed to the bottom left.

　Verdy took the ball in the midfield after 6 minutes and didn't miss the opportunity to see Tokyo's DF line moving up. They quickly passed the ball to the front line with one touch. FW Hiramoto caught up with it and took a shot, but it missed above the goal and the danger was averted. Immediately after that, Amaral took a shot from Toda's post-play. In the 8th minute, Verdy aimed for a direct goal from a left-side free kick, but the goalkeeper caught both attempts.

　Tokyo is effective in pressing and takes control of the ball. Gradually, Verdy is unable to move forward. In the 16th minute, Shigeki connects the ball from a set play and takes a shot. Verdy's defender blocks it and it becomes a corner kick. However, right after this corner kick, Verdy connects a clearance ball forward and defender Lopez, who advanced from the backline, picks it up and passes it to Hiramoto on the left side. Hiramoto runs alone on the left side, attracting Tokyo's defenders, and sends a final pass to the front of the goal. Ewerton, the "most dangerous man," is waiting there and takes a one-touch shot. The ball shakes the net spectacularly, and in a blink of an eye, Tokyo is scored against with a brilliant counterattack.

Verdy Take The Lead 

Both sides began the match in aggressive fashion but the best chance of the opening exchanges fell to F.C. TOKYO in the 4th minute. Amaral received the ball from Ishikawa in a central position and embarked on a surging run at the heart of the Verdy defense until he was clattered to the ground just outside the area. Following up, Ishikawa retrieved the loose ball and had only the keeper to beat but the referee had blown for the foul. Miyazawa curled the free kick around the Verdy wall but narrowly past the post.
In the 6th minute, Edmundo won the ball in midfield, spotted that the TOKYO defense line had moved too far upfield and launched a pass into the empty space. Forward Hiramoto raced onto the ball and floated a shot over the charging TOKYO keeper Doi; fortunately, the ball cleared the bar as well.
Edmundo fired a free kick straight at Doi in the 8th minute.
Although TOKYO were pressing hard in midfield and playing the ball around stylishly, Verdy threatened on the break. Moniwa had a shot blocked for a corner in the 16th minute; the ball was cleared to Lopes who hared forward and found Hiramoto in space on the right. Hiramoto drew the defense towards him and squared the ball for the unmarked Edmundo to lash a shot into the roof of the net for the opening goal. A lightning-fast counterattack and world-class finish gave Verdy the lead.

Amaral shows determination towards the ball, equalizes with a penalty kick!

　Tokyo had to make a substitution after Ishikawa injured his leg after 10 minutes. In the 20th minute, Kina replaced him and entered the right side. However, Tokyo did not change their way of playing even after conceding the first goal. They continued to press and dominate the game. In the 22nd minute, Amaral took a corner kick after Kina's cross, and Jahn attempted a header shot. However, the goalkeeper caught the ball. In the 29th minute, when the Verdy defenders were keeping the ball in their final line, Toda and Miyazawa aggressively pressed them. Then, in the 30th minute, Doi's goal kick was cleared by the Verdy defenders, but Amaral bravely chased after the loose ball and was fouled inside the penalty area, earning a penalty kick. In the 31st minute, Amaral himself confidently converted the penalty kick, bringing the game back to a draw.

　Tokyo, which is approaching Verdy goal with Kina from the right and Shigeki from the left, continued to have a bad time shooting due to the accuracy of the last pass and the lack of determination of the receiver, and the first half ended.

Tenacious Amaral Ties It! 

Ishikawa, injured early in the match, had gamely battled on but was unable to continue and Kina replaced him after 20 minutes. TOKYO continued to press forward with Kina making an immediate impact, bursting down the right and crossing to Amaral. The Verdy defence conceded a corner but the keeper held Jean's header. A period of sustained pressure from the home side followed and a typical piece of opportunism from Amaral earned the equaliser. Doi punted the ball downfield and a loose defensive header fell invitingly for Amaral who was upended as he raced into the area. The "King of Tokyo" picked himself up, bamboozled the Verdy keeper and tied the score from the spot.
Buoyed by the goal TOKYO began to dominate proceedings but failed to take advantage of several half chances and the first half finished 1-1.

Kelly scores the go-ahead goal from the expected development!

　In the second half, which was greeted with a 1-1 scoreline, Coach Hara's halftime instructions were "Don't let Edimundo free. Let's shoot more. Let's thoroughly put crosses in from the sides with Kina as the starting point." Following those instructions, Kina sometimes kept the ball, sometimes shook it with a pass, and became the starting point for Tokyo's attacking advances, allowing them to take the game advantageously.

　In the 48th minute, Kelly received a cross from Kina on the right side and took a shot in the center. He won a corner kick. Kina once again attempted a goal with a middle shot from the loose ball of this corner kick. As they kept possession and attacked, they suffered a counterattack from Verdy in the 53rd minute. Edmundo intercepted near their own end line and passed to Hiramoto from the left side, who used his speed to attack. In the end, FW Sakurai, who had become free just before the right goal area, took a shot. It was almost a goal, but Jahn blocked the shot at the last moment and nothing happened.

　In the context of Tokyo dominating and Verdy countering, Tokyo continues to focus on goal without losing concentration. In the 55th minute, Toda headed the ball from Kaji's cross, but it missed the goal. However, the intention to place Toda inside and create opportunities from the side proved successful. In the 57th minute, Amaral, who had been keeping the ball on the left side, sent a cross to the goal, which hit the opposing defender who was competing with Toda in the center and spilled in front of the goal. Miyazawa and Kelly were tightly marking this ball, and in the end, Kelly pushed it into the goal with his right foot! A valuable additional point was scored.

　Tokyo, which does not let up, substituted Fukuda for Toda in the 61st minute and aimed for "another goal". On the other hand, Verdy raised Edmundo to the top and tried to create space in the midfield by pushing the DF line forward, according to Coach Lory. However, with this, Tokyo DF firmly marked Edmundo, preventing him from being free. And Tokyo, who attacked one-sidedly, received a strong shot from Amaral in the 63rd minute after receiving a through pass from Kaji from the right penalty area. From the CK obtained from the save by the GK, Miyazawa shoots the loose ball, but it narrowly misses to the right. In the 75th minute, Amaral dribbled up the left side and sent a cross, but Fukuda collided with the opponent's DF when he jumped in. Although they couldn't score an additional point, Asari was substituted for Amaral in the 85th minute. They showed even more determination to win and defended until the end. Time's up. They won the match they really wanted to win and rose to 3rd place in the 2nd stage ranking. In the next match, they will challenge the top-ranked Júbilo Iwata.

[Summary of Manager's Press Conference] "I had a strong desire to win more than usual. In the previous match against Kashima, Verdy created a rhythm by focusing on Edmundo and the quick movements of the surrounding players when the ball was passed to him. We knew their style of play, so we made sure not to let Edmundo easily turn and play forward. However, Ishikawa was unable to catch up with the ball as he normally would due to a bruise on his right thigh, and as a result, Edmundo was left free and scored the opening goal. It was frustrating, but I think Kina, who came on as a substitute, created a good rhythm by utilizing his unique strengths that are completely different from Ishikawa's. We have been struggling to score more than one goal in recent matches, but today we had several chances to score a third goal after scoring two. In the future, we need to improve the quality of crosses, traps, and shots in order to convert those chances. There were some dangerous moments, but winning against a strong rival team gives us confidence and we can prepare well for the next match against Júbilo."

[Summary of Verdy Lori's press conference] "I want to talk about the technical aspects of the game in the press conference, but it's very difficult. Unfortunately, there are things happening in the game that directly affect the result. I want to congratulate FC Tokyo."

Kelly Bags The Winner 

TOKYO manager Hara's half time instructions were terse:" Mark Edmundo. Shoot more. Kina, get forward and cross". The team followed his direction to the letter as Kina broke down the right in the 48th minute and centered to Kelly, whose shot was deflected for a corner. The corner was cleared to Kina who tested the Verdy keeper with an awkwardly bouncing volley. TOKYO kept possession and probed for an opening, simultaneously maintaining a watch on dangerman Edmundo. Jean made a vital block to deny Sakurai in the 50th minute as another length-of-the-pitch counter attack from Verdy, sparked by Edmundo, threatened the TOKYO goal.
Toda had moved infield as TOKYO sought to make headway along the flanks and his header from a Kaji cross sailed narrowly over the bar in the 55th minute. Amaral, out on the left wing, aimed a cross at Toda soon after; his knock down fell in front of Miyazawa and Kelly but it was the latter who extended a leg to prod the ball home and put TOKYO in front.
Manager Hara then replaced Toda with forward Fukuda as TOKYO pressed for a third and decisive goal. Verdy responded by pushing Edmundo further forward to "tie up the TOKYO defence line and create some space in midfield", according to manager Lori. The TOKYO defence smothered Edmundo, denying him any time or space on the ball. At the other end Amaral fizzed a shot on target in the 63rd minute which the keeper did well to beat away for a corner. Miyazawa latched onto a weak clearance but fired fractionally wide.
Fukuda nearly had the ball in the net in the 75th minute from an Amaral cross but a desperate far post block denied him a chance to kill off the game. When a third goal wasn't forthcoming Asari replaced Amaral and TOKYO comfortably saw out the remaining few minutes for a well deserved victory that moved them up to third in the table, and set up a clash with league leaders Jubilo in the next game.

F.C.TOKYO manager Hara:
" We wanted to win tonight even more than usual. We knew what we had to do:stop Edmundo going forward. Due to Ishikawa being injured Edmundo managed to evade a marker and score. It was disappointing but Kina came on and played very well and we found our rhythm. We are only averaging a goal a game so we were pleased to get two tonight and were looking for more. Still, it's good to beat rivals like this and great preparation for the Jubilo game on Sunday".

Verdy manager Lori:
"At a press conference I should talk about the skill of the players, but it's difficult. Many things happened tonight which had a bearing on the result. I would like to congratulate TOKYO".