Unbeatable battle and escape from consecutive losses!

　Sec. 3 of the 2nd stage, which was greeted with two consecutive losses. The last game of August is an away game against Tokyo Verdy 1969 at the Japan National Stadium. U-23 representative players who fought in the Athens Olympics returned to the team from this round. Ishikawa was absent due to a bruise on his left knee, but Shigemori and Konno were named in the starting lineup. On the other hand, Verdy won against Niigata in the first round, but suffered a defeat against Urawa with 7 goals conceded in the previous round. It is urgent to rebuild the defense.

　A match between teams based in Tokyo, and an important game that will determine the future of the 2nd stage. We must absolutely avoid any more consecutive losses. The national field was being poured with cold rain, and a coldness that was unexpected for August could be felt. However, from the away stands, voices saying "We cannot lose to Verdy" echoed, creating an atmosphere that felt like home. The match started with Verdy's kickoff.

Unable to create rhythm, the first half ends in a slump.

　Due to the influence of rain, both teams had a cautious start in the early stages. In the 4th minute, a pass from Kelly reached Miura, who advanced on the right side and crossed the ball into the box. Baba picked up the clearance by the defender and crossed the ball again. They won a corner kick with their attacking play from the side, but failed to score with the subsequent shot. Around the 10th minute, Yamayama, a Verdy defender, intercepted a pass from Imano. In the 11th minute, Doi's long kick drifted to the side and Baba couldn't control it. They couldn't quite find their rhythm and gradually allowed Verdy to dominate possession. In the 12th minute, Kelly was fouled off the ball and won a free kick. Jean took a direct shot from a distance of about 20 meters, but missed the goal by a wide margin. In the 15th minute, Imano attempted to head the ball from Baba's free kick, but missed the target.

　Verdy, who presses from the front line, cut the Tokyo ball in the 16th minute, and MF Kei Kobayashi took a middle shot from a free position in the midfield. However, when Doi caught this ball, he quickly connected it with a feed, and Baba shot freely from Lucas' post. In the 23rd minute, Jahn was surrounded in his own half and lost the ball without a place to pass, and Verdy FW Sakurai took a shot. Verdy controls the ball by connecting short passes and attacking opportunistically from the right side with MF Yamada and DF Yoneyama, as well as switching sides and connecting long balls from the DF line. However, they were unable to create a decisive chance to break through the Tokyo DF despite taking shots from a distance.

　In the 34th minute, Jean shoots a header from Baba's left corner kick, but it slightly goes to the right. In the 37th minute, Kurisawa, who entered the right area, passes to Kaji who came up from the outside. Baba heads the cross in the center, but the shot has no power. In the immediate 38th minute, Kelly enters the right area from a combination of Kurisawa. He cuts the defender and crosses. Kurisawa connects with a header, and Baba shoots a header in front of the goal, but it floats. In the 39th minute, when Verdy Yoneyama's right cross comes in, FW Hiramoto and Jean jump in and the ball grazes the post. Tokyo tries to create chances from corner kicks and free kicks, but in the 44th minute, Lucas competes for the left corner kick and Kanazawa aims for a direct volley from the loose ball of the defender, but it goes to the right of the goal. The first half ended with a back and forth battle, but overall it was a lackluster performance.

Grabbing the rhythm with Abe's entry, launching a series of side attacks

　In the second half, it was Tokyo who took the initiative. They started picking up second balls as instructed at halftime, and in the 49th minute, they launched a quick attack. However, Kelly's final pass was cut off by the opponent's defender. In the 52nd minute, Baba sent Lucas running into the space on the right side with a one-touch pass, and Lucas crossed the ball. Miura picked up the ball after the opponent's goalkeeper deflected it, and crossed it again. However, it was cleared by the defender, and although they began to find their rhythm, they couldn't create any clear chances. In an attempt to break the deadlock, Abe was substituted for Kurizawa in the 54th minute. This would prove to be a game-changing move. Abe aggressively challenged from the left side and completely seized control of the attacking rhythm.

　56 minutes, Kaji dribbles past the defender on the right side and crosses the ball into space. Abe heads the ball but fails to hit the target. In the 60th minute, Abe receives Kaji's switch on the side and dribbles, Miura picks up the loose ball and passes it to Kanazawa, who runs up the left side. Although they couldn't finish, they were able to create a wave-like attack by picking up the second ball. In the 62nd minute, a decisive chance. Lucas drops the ball from a throw-in on the right, Baba picks it up and takes a powerful shot. The goalkeeper saves the ball, and Abe picks it up and shoots from the left area. Unfortunately, it misses just above the goal, but it shows a good attacking shape.

　In the 64th minute, Kaji, who dribbled from the side to the center, took a middle shot as soon as he saw an opening in front. The ball that flew to the lower left of the goal was saved by the goalkeeper, but a corner kick was awarded. Tokyo continued to threaten the goal from crosses multiple times against Verdy, whose energy level had dropped. They won corner kicks, but couldn't finish. In the 71st minute, Yusuke Kondo was substituted for Baba.

Kajiyama's spectacular shot that saved the team!

　In the 75th minute, Verdy consecutively took two CKs, but countered with Lucas -> Kanazawa -> Abe, and Kanazawa picked up the opponent's clear in the area and took a shot. However, it missed above the goal. In the 78th minute, Verdy MF Miura aimed for the lower left corner of the goal with a FK, but Doi saved it and escaped to CK. In the following 79th minute, Tokyo cut off this Verdy's short corner and made it my ball, then launched a quick attack. Kondo Yusuke -> Kelly connected, and Kelly passed to Kondo Yusuke who had jumped out to the front line again. Kondo Yusuke avoided the oncoming GK and directly slid the ball towards the goal! Everyone followed the trajectory of the ball, thinking it would be a goal. However, the rolling ball was cleared by Verdy MF Kobayashi Daichi just before the goal line. With a determined sliding, they couldn't break the goal line.

　In the 81st minute immediately after, Kajiyama was substituted for Miura, who showed signs of fatigue. Using the last substitution slot, they approached the Verdy goal with an all-out effort. In the 86th minute, Kajiyama took a left-footed shot from mid-range, but it went wide of the goal. However, their bold attitude towards the goal paid off afterwards.

　88 minutes, Lucas received the ball in the center from a left throw-in, and passed it to Kajiyama who was free in the midfield. Kajiyama controlled the ball with one touch and struck it with his right foot. The ball, with a powerful trajectory, firmly hit the left side of the goal and went in! The goalkeeper couldn't move a step in front of this eye-opening shot. Kajiyama had also scored a goal from a similar position in the Nabisco Cup match against Kashima Antlers, but this shot had even more sharpness. "When the pass came from Lucas, I initially intended to play it to the right side and trapped it to the right. But since there was space in front, I aimed for a shot," said Kajiyama. He demonstrated his precise technique and boldness, and his first goal in the league became a "significant achievement".

　The remaining time including 3 minutes of stoppage time, Kelly and Lucas skillfully kept the ball and used the time, hardly allowing Verdy to counterattack, and time is up. In defense, they kept Verdy's attacks from scoring, and with Kajiyama's strike, they got the much-desired 3 points. A valuable win that escapes from consecutive losses, let's turn things around from here!

【Player Comments】《Kajiyama》"I had the mindset of shooting as much as possible from the moment I entered the game. (The goal) was raining, so I thought that if I could hit it on target, the goalkeeper might deflect it, so I decisively shot without hesitation. With Jean, we both tried to maintain a good balance even if one of us moved forward when there was a chance. We had two consecutive losses, but the team atmosphere was not bad, so I think we can win more starting from today."《Imano》"I was primarily focused on maintaining balance, but there were some mistakes in my first game after rejoining the team. In the midfield, the ball was passed around, but we didn't concede in the final line, so I think it was good. It's tough to switch from the Olympics, but now it's important to do our best in the J-League. It was a tough match, but the most important thing is for the team to win, so I'm glad we got the result."《Moino》"Honestly, I might still be tired, but I think the defense was stable. There were no issues with the combination with Jean. In the attack, I believed that the forward players would eventually score."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "We had two consecutive losses at the beginning of the season and the results were not coming, but the performance was not bad. The Olympic representative players have returned and we have scaled up our training this week. Ishikawa got injured in Thursday's practice match, so we have been monitoring his condition until today, but we decided to prioritize his well-being and started Kurisawa. We knew that it was inevitable for Verdy to dominate today's match to some extent, so our plan was to defend firmly, take the ball away quickly, and make the second half the decisive moment. I believed that by bringing in attacking players like Abe, Yusuke Kondo, and Kajiyama, we would have chances to score at some point. Abe is the type of player who can jump in front of the goal and compete vertically on the left side. He has also scored as a substitute in the past two matches, so we decided to bring him in as the first accent. Next, we brought in Yusuke Kondo, who has a strong shooting ability, and finally Kajiyama. Considering Miura's fatigue, we wanted to spread the ball from there and utilize the sides, or let Kajiyama himself aim for a goal. When Yusuke Kondo's shooting chance was cleared, I briefly thought about a draw, but I think it was a big 3 points that the players didn't give up until the end and won. Despite playing well against Deportivo and Roma, we couldn't get results, but we talked about raising our level of football again. The results of our training with the Olympic representative players have shown. It was good that we were able to keep the opponents from scoring. We were sometimes too concerned about the attack, so we focused on defending properly and scoring within that. Kajiyama has great shooting power, but he always chooses to pass, so I have been telling him to aim for a shot. His shot in the Deportivo match was amazing, and today's shot was also amazing. I want him to become a player with a great scale. These 3 points are big for us. G Osaka is also in good form, but we want to focus on the next Nabisco Cup."

[Verdy Ardiles Coach Press Conference Summary] "Perhaps the previous Reds match still had an impact, today was very bad. There are several players whose confidence has decreased. From our perspective, it was a very poor game. Although there wasn't a big difference in the first half, we were still satisfied because we were surpassing the opponent. However, the second half was poor and worrisome. We only had two shots, including Miura's free kick. Fatigue was also visible. It may all be due to a loss of confidence. Our team becomes either white or black. When it's white, we have won against F.Marinos and Kashima. But when it's black, it becomes a really deep black and we have had bad results. Today's result may have been a call to be cautious at this point. Next is the Nabisco Cup, but we need to firmly return to the basics. The passing itself of those basics is not going well, so in next week's practice, we need to focus on that and maybe come up with something, including changes in the system and members. With the current situation, we cannot overcome this situation."