Aiming for consecutive victories, facing Kashiwa in the rain at National Stadium

　In the previous match, Tokyo won against Kobe away. In this match, which is held at the Japan National Stadium after a 3-day break, they will play against Kashiwa Reysol. There are concerns about fatigue due to consecutive matches, but Tokyo will start with the same lineup as the previous match. Iwakawa, who has an injury in his right adductor muscle, and Jean, who suffered a laceration above his left eyebrow during yesterday's practice, also took to the field with determination to aim for consecutive victories.

　Kashiwa, on the other hand, has not been in good shape with 5 consecutive losses after starting the 1st stage with 2 consecutive wins. In this match, GK Minami and MF Myojin are suspended, and Japan national team's FW Tamada is also on the bench. However, the young eleven with an average age of 23.82 should have an unstoppable momentum, and extra caution is necessary in times like this. Manager Ikegaya also said, "Tokyo tends to play with 3 forwards and wide players spread out on the sides. If we respond with a 3-back formation, there is a risk of becoming a 5-back formation, so we will use a 4-back formation to control the space. This allows us to have more players in the midfield." As the way of playing is studied, it will be one of the highlights to see how much they can win against "Tokyo's soccer". The match started with Tokyo's kickoff in a light rain.

Before Kashiwa, who eliminates spaces, the early stages were unable to create decisive chances.

　In order to aim for consecutive victories, we absolutely wanted to avoid conceding the first goal, especially in the early stages that have been continuing recently. As a result, both teams put pressure on each other at key points in the opening stages, leading to a back-and-forth battle. In the 4th and 6th minutes, Ishikawa sent a right cross, and in the 7th minute, Fujiyama sent a left cross, but they did not result in a shot. In the 8th minute, Ishikawa broke through on the right side from a quick restart and crossed the ball, but Toda's header narrowly missed the target.

　Tokyo gradually pushes Kashiwa, but there is no space in front of the defensive line, and they cannot create effective attacks from the sides. The first shot for both teams today came in the 20th minute, when Asari took a middle shot. In the 26th minute, Kajiyama picked up a cleared ball from a corner kick and aimed for the goal from just outside the box, but the opponent's defender blocked it. In the 27th minute, they won two more corner kicks, but couldn't finish them. In the 29th minute, Lucas passed the ball to the space on the right side from a quick counterattack, but it narrowly missed Ishikawa, who had come out, and crossed the goal line.

　Until now, Kashiwa couldn't make a single shot, but in the 31st minute, MF Ricardinho took a middle shot, and this seemed to be a signal to start creating chances. In the 32nd minute, MF Tanizawa made a through pass to the left side space. Tanizawa received the return pass from FW Kanno, who caught up with it, and crossed from the left. FW Roberto CESAR was free on the far side and took a heading shot, but Doi made a nice save. In the 34th minute, Kanno took a shot from a through pass that took advantage of the gap in Tokyo's defense on the front line. In the 39th minute, Tanizawa intercepted Jahn's jump and dribbled into the penalty area. He sent a last pass to the left, but it narrowly missed Roberto CESAR who jumped in. Tokyo escaped the pinch.

Makoto IMANO's second consecutive goal gives the lead! Riding the rhythm, Jean adds another point.

　In the 33rd minute, Tokyo's Lucas made a long through pass from the center after advancing with Kaji's attack. Although it was offside, in the 34th minute, Ishikawa turned the defender and took a left-footed shot, not allowing Kashiwa to control the rhythm. Then, in the 40th minute, Kajiyama, who ran up the left side, won a corner kick, and Ishikawa's left corner kick was cleared by the opponent's goalkeeper. Imakano, who received the loose ball with his back to the goal, boldly attempted an overhead shot. It was an acrobatic shot that surprised everyone, but the ball pierced the net and it's a goal! Imakano scored his second consecutive goal in two matches, and Tokyo finally scored the long-awaited opening goal since the 2nd round against Oita!!

　Tokyo, who led by one point in the second half, aggressively attacked from the start. In the 46th minute, Toda picked up a loose ball in the midfield and connected it to Kajiyama. Kajiyama advanced and attracted the defender, then made a final pass to the right side of the area. Ishikawa received the ball and took a powerful shot, but the goalkeeper made a great save and it resulted in a corner kick. In the 47th minute, Jahn picked up the loose ball from Ishikawa's cross and took a shot from a set piece. In the 48th minute, Lucas held on near the right goal line and sent a cross, which Kajiyama picked up after the defender's clearance and took a shot from the left side of the area. Although none of these attempts resulted in a goal, in the 50th minute, Imamura intercepted the opponent's counterattack in the midfield. He aggressively advanced and from Kaji's cross, Lucas hit the post and Kajiyama took a shot. This was blocked by the defender and resulted in a left corner kick.

　The corner kick taken by Kajiyama himself was perfectly timed and crossed to Jean, who was left unmarked in front of the goal, and he scored with a header! In the early stages of the second half, they once again scored a valuable additional goal from a set piece.

Despite conceding a goal, we rose to 6th place with our first consecutive win of the season.

　Kashiwa, who was two points behind, substituted MF Shigehara for MF Dudu and substituted Tamada for FW Kanno in the 53rd minute. As a result, in the 56th minute, Shigehara stole the ball on the left side of the Tokyo defense and crossed it. The Tokyo DF failed to clear it, and the ball ended up at Tamada's feet on the left side of the area. Tamada immediately aimed for the goal, but it was cut off by Jan's sliding tackle. With the left corner kick obtained from this, DF Watanabe headed the ball, but it went wide of the goal. In the 59th minute, Tokyo's Fujiyama attacked from an early restart and picked up the loose ball from Toda's cross, shooting from just outside the area. It was a decisive shot, but it missed the goal. In the 60th minute, Kashiwa's Tamada → Zehoberto entered the area, but Motoniwa cut it off. Inomoto then initiated a quick counterattack, and Ishikawa on the right dribbled and shot.

　However, gradually the ball settled in the front line and Kashiwa regained their rhythm in the midfield, launching a fast-paced attack. In the 63rd minute, Tamada, who was on a high speed, unleashed a powerful shot from just outside the box, but Doi made a one-handed save. In the 64th minute, Mobara boldly aimed for the goal from mid-range. Tokyo also aggressively attacked from the sides, but during this period, the accuracy of crosses was low and they couldn't create clear chances. In the 72nd minute, Bamba was substituted for Kajiyama, and in the 75th minute, Abe was substituted for Lucas. However, they were unable to disrupt Kashiwa's rhythm. On the contrary, they lost the ball frequently in the front line and fell victim to Kashiwa's counterattacks.

　And finally in the 82nd minute, Shigehara, who took the ball inside the Kashiwa defense, made a vertical pass to Ricardinho. After receiving the return, he dribbled smoothly and advanced towards the front line, sending a long ground through pass. Doi jumped out to intercept this ball, but just before touching it, Tamada, who had already escaped in front of the goal, scored, equalizing the score by one point. The remaining time also passed in the Tokyo defense, but Kashiwa's fierce attack in the final stage was successfully defended mainly by Asari and Fujiyama. The game ended with no more goals. Although they missed the shutout, they achieved their first consecutive victory of the season and rose to 6th place, where they can aim for a high position in the future.

【Player Comments】《Imano》"The goal scene, I just wanted to finish with a shot and cross the goal line. I'm a defensive player, so it's my first time scoring with an overhead kick and scoring in two consecutive games. We took a 2-0 lead today and felt relieved, but it became hectic and tough towards the end. I think we should have gone for the third goal with confidence instead of defending. There are many areas to improve, but I want to become better at managing games when we are winning."《Jean》"The injury is not serious. Since Kashiwa has been experiencing consecutive losses, I knew today's match would be tough and we had to win. It's an important match, so I naturally intended to play. But the header didn't hit the injured area, so I was able to score nicely (laughs). In the past few matches, we conceded goals due to our own mistakes, so today we were careful not to make any mistakes. Winning together and having a winning streak gives us confidence, but we wanted to keep a clean sheet. We will make adjustments to the areas that need improvement and prepare for the next match."

[Summary of Manager's Press Conference] "We played 4 matches in 11 days, including the Nabisco Cup, but during that time, Kelly and Kanazawa got injured and had to withdraw. In that situation, today's performance was not good, but we didn't concede the first goal. In the past few matches, we have been conceding goals early in the first half, and when we concede first, we tend to panic. In the midst of that, Konno continued to score difficult shots from set plays, just like in the previous match. At halftime, I talked about how Kashiwa was defending deep, adapting to Tokyo's style of play with a 4-back formation, and the three midfielders lining up in front of them, so we need to change sides quickly instead of just attacking the same side. In the second half, we finally started to play wide attacks from right to left and left to right, which resulted in a goal from a corner. We hadn't won consecutive matches this season, so regardless of the performance, winning gives the team confidence. We have a week until the next match, so we hope injured players can recover. It was difficult with national team activities and consecutive matches, but we want to make the necessary adjustments. Right now, we need 3 points. We want to have a better performance, but winning is the next step. The next match is important."

[Summary of Kashiwa-Ikedani's press conference] "Regarding the scene of conceding a goal, it was poorly conceded. It was taken easily from the restart, despite the time. We tried a 4-back formation for the first time today, but it didn't function well in the first half and we couldn't create many chances. However, we were able to create several decisive scenes and wanted to make a comeback in the second half, but we conceded a goal again from the restart. Although we are on a losing streak, I think today's game is a game that will lead to the next one, and it is quite different from the previous defeats, not just pretending to be strong. In the midfield, Tamada and others who came on as substitutes contributed to the fluid movement and improved the quality of crosses. In terms of team strength, there were areas where we had been too fixated in the past, but we were able to broaden our perspective. We will face Kashima next, and we definitely want to win."