Finish the home final match with a victory and advance to the top

　Sec. 14, the final home game of this stage, will be played against Kyoto Purple Sanga at Japan National Stadium. It will be held on Sunday, one day later than the other matches. The hope of winning the championship, which was still remaining yesterday, has been dashed. Furthermore, today we are in a difficult situation as Kelly and Baba are suspended and unable to play. However, if we are easily defeated here, not only our advancement to the top but also our future battles cannot be expected. With Amaral as the top player, Ishikawa on the right, Abe on the left, and Toda in the second row, we aim for victory.

　On the other hand, Kyoto is currently sinking to the bottom with 7 points, in a difficult situation. However, with the arrival of Pim as the new coach, the mood has been refreshed. A desperate counterattack is expected towards recovery. However, they cannot afford to lose in order to respond to the support of many people at home. It was clear and sunny for the first time in a while during the day, but as evening approached, a coolness could be felt, and the game started with Tokyo's kickoff.

DF breaks through the back and Toda scores with a looping shot to take the lead!

　1 minute, a pass from Miyazawa to Abe who broke through behind the left side of the DF, and Abe rushed into the penalty area. He sent a sharp ground pass to the front of the goal, and Toda jumped in from the center. Toda's foot barely missed the ball that slid in, but Tokyo had a big chance early in the game. Kyoto got a goal kick from this play, but Tokyo picked up the ball in their own half and connected it to Amaral. Despite being blocked by the opponent's defense, Miyazawa picked up the loose ball and quickly floated a pass to the front line. The ball passed perfectly to Toda's feet as he ran behind the DF, and Toda shot a looping shot over the head of the jumping GK. The ball drew a trajectory that seemed to be filled with the prayers of the stands and went into the goal! Tokyo got the opening goal from the planned development of "breaking through behind the opponent's DF."

　Tokyo aggressively advances the game, giving a sense of a high-scoring game with an early lead. In the 3rd minute, Ishikawa received a free kick from Miyazawa on the left side and took a shot. In the 8th minute, Toda and Amaral dashed forward vigorously, chasing a long pass from Kanazawa. Amaral picked up the clearance ball with a header from the goalkeeper and made an overhead shot. In the 9th minute, Ishikawa cleverly passed the ball from the backline to the front line after winning a midfield battle. Toda, once again breaking through in front of the goal, had a big chance with a 1-on-1 against the goalkeeper, but unfortunately, it was blocked by the goalkeeper's save.

　Tokyo repeatedly sends the ball between the GK and DF, aiming for the goal. In the 12th minute, Amaral picks up the loose ball after the opponent DF struggles to deal with Ishikawa's early cross and takes a shot. However, the shot misses to the left of the goal, and after this shot, Kyoto takes control.

Despite losing control, Doi continues to make fine plays

　16 minutes, Kyoto MF Matsui makes a tricky pass from the left side of the midfield. It goes to MF Ishimaru who is free in the center, and he passes it through to MF Suzuki Shin who runs into the goal from the left side. The pinch is overcome by Doi's bold dive, but in the 25th minute, DF Kakuta overlaps to the right side from Matsui and crosses it, and Doi escapes with a corner kick. This corner kick falls at the feet of DF Hayashi, who was in close range in front of the goal, and a decisive shot is made. However, Doi blocks it with his left hand.

　Tokyo, which does not allow goals, also had fine plays by Doi. However, in the midfield, they did not press and allowed Kyoto to dominate, resulting in a period of being pushed back. Until the 12th minute, Tokyo had taken 6 shots and kept Kyoto at 0, but then they were shot at 6 times by the 37th minute. Finally, in the 42nd minute, Abe ran into the penalty area on the right side from a goal kick and took a shot. In the 43rd minute, Ishikawa sprinted down the right side after stealing the opponent's goal kick. He cut inside and took a shot, but the opponent's defender blocked it. They only managed to score one goal and entered the second half.

　In the second half, Tokyo replaced Miura with Asari and placed Toda on the left and Abe in front. Kyoto substituted Matsui with MF Ono. Shortly after the start, Ono ran into the area and sent a through pass to FW Machida, but Doi caught it. In the 47th minute, Miyazawa took a middle shot for Tokyo, but couldn't find the target. However, Kyoto's dominance in moving the ball extensively remained unchanged. In the 54th minute, Ono sent the ball to the right side space, and Kakuta, who had moved up freely, took a shot. In the 56th minute, Machida received a grounded cross from MF Nakabara on the right side and turned around. He quickly became free and took a shot from a close distance to the goal, but Doi made a brave dive and saved it, overcoming a decisive pinch. In the attack, in the 63rd minute, Amaral dropped the ball and Miyazawa made a long pass to Asari, who jumped out to the front line. Asari brought the ball into the penalty area and took a shot, but was blocked by the defender.

Securing victory while enduring hardship, rising to 4th place!

　Kyoto substituted DF Suzuki Kazu with FW Kurobe, who returned from injury after about 2 months, in the 64th minute. They approached the game with an attacking formation of 3-4-3. In the 65th minute, Kyoto launched an attack using Kurobe's post, but Jean and Kanazawa defended well. They countered and Ishikawa took a shot from the right side, earning a corner kick. In the 70th minute, Suzuki replaced Abe. In the 73rd minute, Kyoto's Ono took a middle shot, and in the 74th and 75th minutes, they successfully defended consecutive pinches that resulted in corner kicks. Then, they initiated a counterattack from Doi's throw-in. Suzuki dribbled up the right side and took a shot from inside the right area. However, the ball curved to the left.

　Asari risked his body, and Shigenobu demonstrated his strength with uninterrupted defense. In the 86th minute, Fujiyama was substituted for Miyazawa, and they stopped Kyoto's attack. However, they couldn't create any chances in the final stages, including 4 minutes of stoppage time, and the game ended. Although the game development was not necessarily favorable, they successfully defended their one-point lead and achieved a clean sheet victory for the fifth consecutive league match. They also moved up to 4th place and finished the home games of the 1st stage with 5 wins and 2 draws, without any losses.

　After the stage, all the players gathered to show their gratitude for the passionate support from the stands. Manager Hara said, "We could only score one point today. However, we will do our best to score more points by utilizing our current defensive strength. Thank you for always giving us passionate support, and please continue to support us in the future." He also pledged to make a breakthrough in the final match against Iwata and in future battles.

【Player Comments】《Fujiyama》"I entered with the aim of picking up the ball in the midfield. The role is the same whether in the central midfield or as a defensive midfielder, so it wasn't difficult. It was okay for Kyoto to let us shoot from a distance in their attacks. However, there were some dangerous moments although I wasn't scared. It is important not to lose here. I think it is a factor for our current ranking."《Suzuki》"I tried to move quickly when Ishikawa had the ball, pick up the ball near Amaral, and run into the spaces created by Toda. I wanted to keep challenging whenever I received the ball, so I'm not satisfied because there was a scene where I should have scored. I think I should have shot with my right foot."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "It was a very tough game. Kyoto, with new manager Pim, thought that if they could get the ball behind our defense, it would create chances, and they actually scored right away. Today, Kelly was suspended, so it was difficult to ask someone else to replace him. We tried a simple strategy of having Toda move forward from the second line and letting Abe run as well. At first, we were able to successfully apply pressure and win the ball in the spaces. If we could have scored another goal at that time, there would have been a possibility of a high-scoring game. Kyoto was compact and quickly pressed up when the ball was played into their forward line, and we were caught and counterattacked while trying to make short passes. It was difficult to develop play in the midfield and change sides. Miura is not in top form due to a foot injury, so in the second half, we brought in Asari to pick up loose balls and implemented a strategy of crossing the ball to Amaral from both sides. Tohoy is also defending well, of course, but we managed to get 3 points in a difficult situation without Kelly or Baba. However, we need to improve the quality of our various plays. I think our true value will be tested in the next away game. We will go for the win, including payback from last year. I believe that will also move the team forward."

[Kyoto Pim Coach's Press Conference Summary] "We were in last place and considering the away situation, we had to do something completely different from the way we played today. We conceded a goal in the first 2 minutes, and it was not something we should have done, considering our current situation, to play with risks for 88 minutes. I was very disappointed that we seemed to have forgotten about the tactics we discussed before the game in the first 15-20 minutes. There was no organization at all, but it was lucky that we managed to stop them with just one goal against. In the last 20 minutes of the first half, we kept the ball and controlled the game, creating several chances. As for the second half, we were able to push the opponent into their own half for most of the time. We substituted Ono for Matsui to keep possession. We wanted to put pressure on the Tokyo defense by bringing in Kurobe in the last 25 minutes. We took risks for scoring and tried every possible means, but unfortunately, we couldn't score. Maybe luck is also necessary to make it happen. However, we played too easily and allowed the opponent to score, so we need to play more professionally."