Facing a tough opponent for the first time in the league, Shonan prepares to take on the challenge with a new formation

　On the 25th (Sun), Sec. 14 of the league will be held. We will face Shonan Bellmare away. In the previous match, we conceded a penalty kick at the very end and ended in a draw. Although there is frustration, Coach Shofuku said the team will not look down but "use that reflection as nourishment and move forward." This week, the team practiced with awareness of the goal difference and wants to turn that effort into results in this match. We hope for a game that will wipe away the bitter feelings from the last match. Tokunaga is out due to injury, so Morishige will play as the defensive midfielder and Kim Young-gun will serve as the center back in this formation.Shonan, on the other hand, currently stands 16th with 3 wins, 3 draws, and 7 losses. During this break, they added 194cm FW VALDO, MF Emerson, and GK Tsuzuki. Although defensive midfielder Tamura is suspended this match, the new players are all in the starting lineup, with MF Abe on the left side, MF Terakawa on the right, and MF Emerson as the attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Centered on the tall FW VALDO, the second line has players with mobility and shooting ability, so catching their runs will be one of the key points today.This season marks the first league match against Shonan, who moved up to J1, but familiar players for Tokyo, including DF Jahn, are present. While this is exciting, we absolutely cannot afford to lose. By gaining the upper hand in midfield, we will cut Shonan’s momentum, launch quick counterattacks, and control the game on our terms aiming for victory.Although the sunlight shows softness, the humid heat remains at Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium. The stands are almost full. A slight breeze blows on the pitch, and the match kicked off at 18:05 with Tokyo starting.

Initiate the attack from the side and take a 2-point lead with goals from Morishige and Hanyu

　From the start, the team launched attacks from the flanks, with Morishige actively involved in offense creating chances. In the 6th minute, Kajiyama stole the ball from Shonan in Tokyo's territory, and Otake advanced with a dribble. On the right, Ricardinho passed to Morishige who moved centrally and took a shot. In the 11th minute, Matsushita advanced on the left side and sent a low cross. Morishige and Ricardinho in the area couldn't quite connect, but Kajiyama followed up on the rebound and sent a shot-like ball in front of the goal. Shonan defender Jean cleared it, but the rebound was connected again and Morishige took another shot. Daikoku tried to follow up on the GK's rebound, but it was offside. In the 15th minute, Nakamura's right cross was met directly by Daikoku with a shot, but the GK saved it, resulting in a corner kick. However, after missing these early chances, Shonan created a decisive opportunity on the counterattack. In the 17th minute, they allowed left side back Ozawa to advance, and MF Emerson took a decisive shot inside the area, but Shiota made a great save to force a corner. In the 19th minute, FW Abe took a sharp long-range shot, and in the 21st minute, FW VALDO headed a shot, but both missed the target. Tokyo, having escaped danger, calmly passed the ball and switched gears at key moments to look for chances. At the 24th and 27th minutes, they earned free kicks near the goal, with Ricardinho and Matsushita aiming, but both were blocked by the wall. After the 30th minute, they tried to exploit the space behind Shonan's high defensive line but were caught offside repeatedly. The breakthrough finally came in the 39th minute. Hanyu passed to Ricardinho flowing to the left front line, who sent a cross, and Morishige jumped into the center, competing with an opponent and scored a dynamic header to take the lead! In the 44th minute, Ricardinho again became the starting point on the left side, connecting from Kajiyama who entered the area to Daikoku. Although Daikoku couldn't shoot, he laid the ball off to Hanyu who followed from the right, and Hanyu fired a precise shot into the net to get the second goal! Taking a two-goal lead, they headed into the second half.

Daikoku marks his first goal in Tokyo, pushing Shonan aside

　Ricardinho, who injured his foot in the first half, was rested as a precaution, and Akamine came on in the second half. He created opportunities both on the sides and in the center, aiming for additional goals. In the 50th minute, from a Shonan corner kick, they launched a counterattack. Nakamura charged into the right area with a powerful dribble after Daikoku held the ball. Despite being marked by defenders, he took a shot. Akamine and others rushed to the ball rolling just inside the opposite side of the goal frame, but Shonan’s determined defense forced a corner kick. In the 57th minute, Otake’s right cross went over Daikoku’s head, and Akamine, who was rushing to the far post, just missed reaching it, and the ball went out of bounds. At the 58th minute, as Shonan tried to push their line up to attack, Hanyu stole the ball, and Akamine launched a short counterattack. Breaking through to the right front line, Daikoku faced the goalkeeper one-on-one and scored a powerful shot, marking his first goal in Tokyo! The lead was extended. However, immediately at the 62nd minute, Shonan’s MF Sakamoto passed to MF Abe, who broke into the right area and took a shot. Shiota saved it once, but the rebound was finished off by substitute FW Nakamura, resulting in a goal. Shonan pressed forward to counterattack from this point, but Tokyo tried to respond by circulating passes and maintaining possession. In the heat, their stamina began to drop, and there were moments when Shonan’s momentum pushed them back. At the 75th minute, Mukuhara was brought on in midfield for Otake. At the 81st minute, Takahashi came on for Morishige. DF Jean also moved forward, and against Shonan’s power play, Tokyo brought in fresh players with strong defensive skills, aiming to counterattack from a solid defense. In stoppage time, Daikoku reacted to a loose ball in Shonan’s territory, took possession, and launched an attack down the right front. He crossed to Akamine, who was free in front of the goal. Akamine tried to connect with a direct shot but mishit and missed the target. Although they couldn’t score the fourth goal, the final whistle blew shortly after. Tokyo withstood Shonan’s fierce late attack and secured their fourth league win. 【Player Comments】 《Daikoku》 “Scoring goals is my job. Tokyo has many skillful players who deliver passes at the right timing, and it’s easy to get into good positions. I want to keep scoring and make the supporters happy. Even though it was an away game, many people came, and I wanted to respond to their cheers. I wanted to answer with a goal as soon as possible. I will keep scoring and running toward the stands.” 《Morishige》 “I played the anchor role, but I planned to attack if there was a chance during the game flow. The team was able to connect passes well and move forward, so I tried to ride that momentum. Personally, I wanted to make up for the penalty I missed last match by scoring. I thought that was the best way to contribute to the team, and I’m glad it showed in the result and we got three points. It was fun to play as a defensive midfielder after a long time. I want to keep fulfilling my role and produce results.” 【Coach Jofuku’s Press Conference Summary】 “This is probably the toughest period for the team, but from the moment I arrived at the stadium today, I felt the supporters’ spirit and was encouraged. Together with these supporters, we want to overcome this difficult time and look back on it as ‘the toughest period’ in the future. I want us to say ‘because we had this period, the autumn season exists.’ I approached the match with that strong feeling. Of course, there are points to reflect on, but the plan was not significantly disrupted. Still, we had chances to score a fourth goal and to close the game with stability. Because we won, I want to reflect seriously. Based on the previous match’s lessons, we still need to learn where to press to score the fourth goal, how to effectively match up against the opponent’s power play, and which areas to cover safely. If we don’t get six points in the upcoming consecutive matches, our frustration won’t be resolved. (About Morishige) Kajiyama’s distribution and Tokunaga’s defense balanced well, but today we focused on how to bring out Morishige’s strengths as a team. He approached the game with the mentality of showing his own strengths, not just replacing Tokunaga. He has skills, but since his movement quality and quantity differ from a center back, we planned to carefully judge his play before making substitutions. (About Daikoku) Other players have realized that he always appears in decisive scenes. We want to supply him with more good balls, and today we created more such scenes than in the Kobe match. That is a team achievement. We want to deepen mutual understanding and keep creating chances.” 【Shonan Coach Sorimachi’s Press Conference Summary】 “In the end, I think the difference in ability showed, but I feel this was a very good performance compared to recent games. It’s frustrating to say this after losing, but soccer is a mysterious thing. We couldn’t score when we were in good rhythm, conceded goals there, and I think there were parts we couldn’t control.”