Aiming for consecutive victories at home against the strong Júbilo Iwata

　On the 28th (Wednesday), the league Sec. 15 will be held. They will face Júbilo Iwata at home in National. In the previous match against Shonan, Oguro marked his first goal since transferring, leading to a victory with three goals. This match is crucial for securing consecutive wins in the league this season, as well as achieving a home victory. Tokyo's Gonda has returned to 100% physical and mental condition and will start. Other than that, Kim Yong-gun will play as center-back and Morishige will serve as a defensive midfielder, maintaining the same formation as the previous match. Although there are concerns about fatigue with only two days between matches, Coach Jofuku discussed the approach, saying, "We want to use our stamina as actively as possible and take control of the game." On the other hand, Iwata currently sits in 13th place with 16 points. They have been dealing with injuries in the defense line and suffered a comeback loss in the previous match against Kashima, but it can be said that they have maintained good form since the return of midfielder Jiu Shinho. Coach Jofuku indicated that "Iwata has a high quality of football they aim for, and they have the attacking power to execute it. Their attack, centered around forward Maeda, is diverse, and especially their attacks starting from the sides are quite frightening. Their defense is also strict, and their biggest feature is the counterattacks from aggressive defense," suggesting that it will not be an easy game. It seems like it will be a tense 90 minutes, but if they fall behind in defense, they will allow Iwata to take control. Tokyo needs to enhance ball possession and not lose in the battles on the sides to secure victory. It is also important not to lose the ball in a half-hearted manner against Iwata's counterattacks. Above all, there is high expectation for a home victory in this match, and they will strive for victory with all their strength. On a summer evening, with a pleasant breeze blowing in National, the match started at 19:04 with Tokyo's kickoff.

Although Iwata took the initiative, we patiently endure with Gonda at the center

　Tokyo struggled to find their rhythm against a compact formation from Iwata, who applied intense pressure in midfield, making it difficult for Tokyo to advance the ball forward. Despite this, in the 7th minute, after a clearance from the opposing DF, Ohtake passed to Nakamura for an early cross. Daigoku made a run behind the DF but was caught by the Iwata GK first. In the 14th minute, Tokyo failed to connect passes in midfield, losing possession to Iwata, and right SB Komano advanced to deliver a cross. This found FW Maeda in front of the goal with pinpoint accuracy, but Gonda made a save just barely to the left of the goal, avoiding a crisis. In the 19th minute, a header shot from Morishige off a FK from Matsushita on the right side shook the net, but was ruled offside. After that, Iwata FW Maeda created opportunities with precise plays, putting Tokyo under pressure. In the 22nd minute, on the right front line, FW Maeda skillfully maintained possession, picked up a loose ball, and quickly took a shot, but Gonda saved it. In the 29th minute, a long feed from DF Ooi in the Iwata half reached FW Maeda on the front line. Konno was marking him, but Maeda controlled the ball with his chest, turned, and aimed for the goal. Tokyo continued to be pressed, but with Gonda at the center, they patiently held on. In the 45th minute, Kajiyama in the center received a pass and laid it off to Daigoku, who shifted left, and Ricardinho made a move in the left area, sending a last pass in front of the goal. However, it was cut off by the Iwata DF, and no chances were created. The first half ended scoreless.

Leading with two consecutive goals by Okubo! However, caught up immediately after...

　In the 2nd minute of the second half, Ricardinho was fouled near the right sideline in the Juntai area, earning a free kick. Kajiyama quickly restarted the play, sending a floating ball towards the goal. Daigoku, who broke through the gap in the Juntai defense, headed the ball down, and it went into the net on the right side! Daigoku scored the opening goal, marking his second consecutive match with a goal. However, just after that, in the 51st minute, a header from MF Jiushinho following a left corner kick for Juntai was cleared, resulting in another corner kick. From this right corner kick taken by MF Ueda, a header from DF Nasu grazed Gonda's hand... Although the Tokyo defense was also covering, Matsushita's clearance ended up in the net, resulting in an own goal that equalized the score. Tokyo substituted Ishikawa for Ohtake in the 58th minute. However, in the 60th minute, Kajiyama lost the ball in midfield, and Juntai MF Nishi launched a counterattack. Jiushinho, in the left area, took a decisive shot, but Gonda made a save. Immediately after, Tokyo substituted Akamine for Ricardinho, aiming to take the lead, but Juntai also brought in DF Kanazawa in the 62nd minute. They moved DF Park Chu-ho up a line to counter the situation. In response, Tokyo struggled to connect passes calmly, allowing Juntai to launch quick counterattacks. In the 69th minute, Juntai FW Narioka took a decisive shot from the right area, but Gonda saved it, resulting in a corner kick. Following that, Juntai MF Yamamoto's middle shot, picked up from the corner kick, deflected off the front line. However, Gonda quickly reacted and managed to defend. In the 79th minute, Suzuki came on for Hanyu. In the latter stages, both teams exchanged counterattacks, and in the 87th minute, Morishige skillfully broke through to the left front line, passing to Suzuki who entered the left area. Suzuki sent a last pass in front of the goal, and Akamine positioned himself to shoot from the right, but was blocked at the last moment by Juntai DF Kanazawa. In stoppage time, they regained possession in a low position in their own half and launched a counterattack. Akamine passed to Kajiyama, who ran again to the right side. From there, a low and quick last pass was sent to the center, but Morishige's shot was cut off by the opposing DF... The match ended in a 1-1 draw, and once again, they could not secure a win at home. 【Player Comments】《Gonda》 "Since it was at home, I wanted to win. I think we were able to respond well to Juntai's style of play in defense. Everyone was moving, and the fullbacks and center backs were putting their bodies on the line. (What about the good saves?) That's the job of a goalkeeper. Still, we lost 2 points. We scored first in a good way, but I believe we shouldn't have conceded at that time. In the situation of the conceded goal, I wonder if I could have touched the header shot... I couldn't do that, and I'm very frustrated." 《Daigoku》 "I knew that Juntai is strong in the first half from prior information, so carrying it to 0-0 was according to plan. It was good that we could score early in the second half. For the goal, I noticed that Kajiyama was looking at me during the free kick, so I changed my body position and prepared. I couldn't see the goal, but I headed it based on my instincts. The issue is that we couldn't score the second goal. I want to improve our coordination more." 【Coach Jofuku's Press Conference Summary】 "I appreciate everyone coming out despite it being a weekday. We haven't won at home in a long time, and I wanted to share joy with the fans today, but it's disappointing that we couldn't achieve that. Regarding the match, from scouting in recent games, I knew that Juntai is at the top level in both offense and defense. They have been competing equally or better in terms of content against the top teams, and I thought today would be a really difficult match. Especially in the first half, I anticipated it would be difficult to penetrate the opponent's block in midfield, so I focused on how to target behind or how to spread the opponent with side changes. However, Juntai was committed to switching with a single pass from the DF line to FW Maeda. FW Maeda not only wins headers against long balls but can also control the ball with his chest. There were several situations where they could switch. We had players who were not in good form individually, but that pressure made it difficult to execute our aims of targeting behind or side changes. However, Juntai cannot maintain a solid block for 90 minutes, so I thought we could penetrate the block in the second half. Substitutes were a key, but they didn't function well, and we couldn't bring out the individual strengths. It was a difficult match as expected, and while we can say we didn't lose, considering our position, we must strive to earn 3 points at home. The players showed that attitude, but we must face the result of not being able to earn 3 points. (What specific points should we face?) There is fatigue from playing every two days, but even so, we need to take our positions properly. We have been working on positioning from the build-up stage and how to create 2-on-1 situations, but we couldn't create numerical advantages due to fatigue. We were under pressure and couldn't take our time, but that's because we couldn't correct our positioning. It's a small detail, but I think we were too lenient." 【Juntai Coach Yanagishita's Press Conference Summary】 "It's disappointing that we couldn't earn 3 points with this performance. However, considering that we were reversed from 2-0 in the previous match, I want to view earning 1 point away as a positive. The players played aggressively from the first half, calmly moving the ball and creating several chances. The first half was fairly good. In the halftime meeting, I mentioned, 'Be careful of Daigoku's movements,' but we were caught off guard early in the second half. Still, the players did not hang their heads and played aiming for the opponent's goal. Reflecting on the previous match, I felt they have become mentally stronger."