ホームで相手を上回り、リーグ戦の勝利を！

　Sec. 22 of the league is held. We will face Omiya Ardija at home. In the previous match, despite being at a numerical disadvantage, we withstood Kashiwa's fierce attacks and took 1 point away. As a result, we have remained undefeated in the official matches in August. In terms of the game content, we always have "our time" to take the lead and create chances, and at the same time, we can demonstrate our perseverance. However, in the league matches, we have not won since the G Osaka match on Jul 7, and this match is a must-win at home.

　However, as the transfer window was nearing its end, Tanizawa completed his transfer. On the other hand, Tokunaga and Gonda, who were preparing for the London Olympics, returned to the team after about a month. After that, Takahashi and Gonda joined the team for only two days due to their activities with the national team, but they prepared themselves and started the game. In addition, Kaga was suspended for this match, so Takahashi was placed as a center back, Tokunaga as a right fullback, and Nakamura as a left fullback. Edmilson led the front line, supported by Ishikawa and Lucas on the sides.

　Omiya, on the other hand, is currently in 16th place with 20 points. They changed coaches in the middle of the season to Verdenik. In addition, they have seen a transformation in their lineup since the season opener when Slovenian-born forward Zlatan and Novakovic joined the team. Although they haven't won in their last 4 matches, in the previous match, forward Zlatan scored his first goal, and they have been able to score in every game, so their attacking power needs to be highly guarded against.

　Today, FW Zlatan is out of the squad. FW Novakovic and MF Cho also started on the bench, but the coach remains cautious, saying "Omiya is still a dangerous team." However, we cannot afford to have a disappointing performance at home like in the 20th round against Niigata. We need to not only avoid giving any opportunities but also excel in quick transitions and winning the ball, and win the game with our own style of play. The morning thunderstorm and evening passing rain have cleared, leaving a humid atmosphere at Ajinomoto Stadium. The match started with Omiya's kickoff at 18:34.

They enter the game aggressively, but are unable to effectively connect the ball and attack.

　Showing an aggressive attitude in both offense and defense from the start, Edmilson took a shot from the right area in the first minute. In the 9th minute, Lucas on the left side passed to Kajiyama on the front line and ran forward, but his shot from the drop was slightly to the right. Conversely, in the 12th minute, Omiya received a side change and sent a sharp cross to the right area from the left side back Shimodaira. The ball, which went over Nakamura's head, passed to the feet of right MF Watanabe and then right side back Watabe, but Morishige blocked it by continuously putting his body on the line.

　However, in this play, Morishige injured his leg and temporarily went off the pitch. From that time on, gradually we couldn't take the ball away, the timing was off in the attack, and Omiya took possession of the ball. Still, we defended without losing concentration in the final line, and in the 27th minute, Kajiyama received a pass to the left front line, cut back the opponent's defender, and brought the ball inside from the left area to take a shot. However, the angle was slightly off, and the ball hit the post. Edmilson, who followed up on the rebound, couldn't finish the shot due to a collision with the opponent...

　Kajiyama created a big chance with his individual skill, but couldn't score here. In the 38th minute, Omiya midfielder Aoki sent a long pass and Hasegawa broke through, but Takahashi skillfully intervened and took the ball away. After that, we continued to fight without panicking and tried to take control, but there were also noticeable miscommunications and difficulties on the rough pitch, making it difficult to effectively connect and attack. In the 44th minute, from Yonemoto's development, Tokunaga sent an early cross and Lucas jumped in at the far post, but was denied a corner kick by the Omiya defense, and the first half ended scoreless.

We allowed the first goal by being caught off guard in defense, and our fierce attack, which we launched with everyone, did not bear fruit...

　In the second half, Tokyo dominated the ball throughout after regrouping. Around the 50th minute, they continuously earned corner kicks and pushed Omiya back. In the 52nd minute, Lucas on the left passed to Kajiyama in the center, who took a sharp shot from just outside the box, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 60th minute, Tokunaga carried the ball up himself and aimed for the goal from the right side of the box. It was blocked, resulting in a corner kick, but the ball ended up with Kajiyama near the center of the box. He hit a direct shot towards the bottom right corner, but once again, it was saved by the goalkeeper.

　63 minutes, quickly connecting to the front line, Ishikawa floated a pass to the right area. Lucas, who ran in, tried to follow up, but his leg was taken and his posture collapsed. Omiya introduced FW Novakovic in the 65th minute. However, the flow did not change, and in the 67th minute, Hasegawa passed Lucas with a one-two and took a decisive shot from the center, but it went wide... Immediately after that, Tokyo also introduced Nemanja VUCICEVIC, who made his first appearance, and in the 77th minute, Watanabe, in an attempt to snatch victory. However, in the 78th minute, they conceded a goal skillfully shot by FW Novakovic from a counterattack.

　Still, without giving up, they launched a counterattack, and in the 82nd minute, from Hasegawa's vertical pass, Lucas on the left area -> Watanabe on the right area took a shot, but it was blocked. In the 84th minute, Watanabe broke through to the right area from Yonemoto's through pass. Although there was no angle, the shot he took towards the goal where the Omiya GK had come out was blocked by the Omiya DF who had covered it.... In the 86th minute, they persistently connected the second ball, and Lucas on the left side floated a ball into the area. Nemanja VUCICEVIC, who had jumped out with his back to the goal, aimed for a volley, but it missed the target.

　In the 88th minute, Mita made a move. Everyone launched a fierce attack, and in the 90th minute, Mita, who received a pass from Yonemoto in the left area, took a direct shot but the goalkeeper saved it and it became a corner kick. In injury time, Nemanja VUCICEVIC headed the ball from Yonemoto's cross, but it went wide. We continued to push Omiya by putting more players in the front line, but in the end, they closed the center and blocked our scoring opportunities with their physical blocks. The game ended with a painful 0-1 defeat, as they took advantage of a momentary defensive lapse.

　【Player Comment】《TOKUNAGA》"I was able to control the ball and create chances. On the other hand, I was frustrated because we were defeated by Omiya's one shot. However, I believe that if we continue to play this way, we can achieve results. It is important to keep going. Personally, I wanted to win because I have returned to the team after a long time. I want to continue playing the kind of soccer that takes the initiative like today and win."

　《Gonda》"Conceding a goal decides the game. So I have regrets, but there were also mistakes from me and the defenders besides the goal-scoring situation. We might have given the momentum to the opponent because of those mistakes. If those mistakes hadn't happened, we might have scored... I also think that. We need to fix that."

　(About Omiya FW Novakovic) He is a player with experience in the world and a wonderful player. When I came back from the Olympics, I talked about "playing at a world standard", and I think today's shot was exactly that. However, we shouldn't just dismiss it as "the opponent was skillful". It should have been preventable, and we are playing to prevent it. However, I don't think the reason for the loss is "lack of decisiveness". We created chances by breaking through like that and took 18 shots, but Omiya still defended at the last minute. It should be possible to resolve this by continuing patiently.

　[Summary of Coach Popovic's Press Conference] "We lost 0-1 in a game like this, but I want to say that the players did well. It is true that the pitch was bad, but I think we were able to express what we do in training well and showed plays that did not seem to be affected by moving and breaking the ball. In this kind of pitch condition, it is not easy to connect passes simply with a small number of touches, but we created many scoring opportunities. However, we were unlucky and couldn't convert them into goals. As for the goal we conceded, we had three players approaching one player from Omiya. We need to make adjustments regarding the situation where we allowed a goal in a 1-on-3 situation."

　I really want to express my gratitude to all the fan supporters. It is because you were able to feel which team was superior in today's soccer match that there was applause after the game, and your ability to watch soccer will guarantee the club's future. Both teams played a clean game today, and I feel that the referee made good judgments. (Why did you continue to use Morishige, who was injured in the middle of the first half, until the end?) He said he could continue, so we let him continue. I don't think his play quality declined or was affected by the injury."

　[Summary of Omiya Verdenik's press conference] "We played well despite the poor pitch conditions and I am very satisfied with winning 3 points away. The opponent also had decisive chances, but if the pitch conditions were a little better, we could have moved the ball faster and made more accurate vertical passes. I think the opponent had the same conditions, but there were many mistakes due to these conditions. However, we were able to have quick transitions and there were many side changes and centering in both offense and defense."

　I think we were able to play better than the opponent in the first half. The start of the second half was also good, but we were pushed back and they created decisive chances in the last 20 minutes. However, there were also lucky aspects, and we were able to finish the game without conceding a goal. (FW Novakovic scored his first goal, right?) At this point, I can't say that we are fully prepared, but if we can be more prepared, we will have players with more goal-scoring threat. Whether it's an easy situation or a difficult situation, if we play collectively, we can convert one out of two chances. That's his quality as a player, and today he also demonstrated enough goal-scoring threat. I think he is a player who can help the team."