Facing Niigata at home under a series of consecutive matches, aiming for the first victory of the 2nd stage

Sec. 2 of the 2nd stage, which will be played three days after the previous match. Albirex Niigata will be welcomed at home, Ajinomoto Stadium. The Kawasaki match ended in a painful 0-2 defeat. Coach Massimo analyzed, "The problem was not being able to take advantage of chances, conceding the first goal, and especially losing the second goal. When the balance is disrupted against a high-quality opponent, that's what happens." However, he vowed to "maintain confidence here and continue to work on maintaining balance and assessing the situation while maintaining team continuity."

Therefore, the lineup did not change significantly from the previous match, but Takahashi was selected as a starter. The formation consisted of Kajiyama and Double Volante, with Yonemoto and Higashi as side midfielders. Ishikawa and Maeda formed the top two in a 4-4-2 formation. In addition, following Nathan BURNS from the previous match, new signing Sandaza also made his first appearance in the lineup and was on the bench.

Niigata, on the other hand, finished the 1st stage in 17th place with 14 points. In the opening match of the 2nd stage, they held the lead against Kashima but conceded 2 goals in additional time and suffered a defeat. However, their organized style of play and the attacking prowess of forward Shibukusa have been effective. They are aggressive in their play and have a strong ability to dominate the ball. On the other hand, Gonda is increasing his vigilance, saying, "If we don't give our best, we will be defeated."

Especially against the passing game centered around Niigata MF Leo SILVA, if we cannot maintain defensive coordination, we will be pushed back. Even if we find ourselves in that situation, we want to demonstrate our team's concentration and regain our solid defense. In attack, it will be crucial to exploit the space behind Niigata's full-backs and finish with a shot. It will be a match where we want to show perseverance, determine the decisive moments in both attack and defense, and also seek intensity.

During the day, strong winds blew and it became extremely hot, but in the evening, under a slightly cooler breeze, the match started at 19:03 with a kickoff in Tokyo.

East takes the lead with a cross from Ota, demonstrating synergy!

From the start, we fought aggressively together and headed towards the goal. In the 9th minute, Kajiya in the center of our own half sent a pass that Higashi dropped, and Takahashi expanded to the left. Ota dribbled up to the front line and sent a well-aimed ground cross from a high position. Ishikawa attracted the opponent's defender near, and Higashi, who ran a long distance in the center, ran in and confidently put the ball into the net with his right foot. GOAL!! We demonstrated speed and coordination and took the lead early in the game.

Grabbing the rhythm from this opportunity, we continued to attack from the side. In the following 11 minutes, this time Morishige fed the ball to the left front. Ota's floating cross went over Maeda in the near post and East rushed in just behind. However, he was unable to shoot as he was challenged by the Niigata DF. In the 20th minute, East passed to Niigata on the left front and Yonemoto closed in. When he was closed down by the Niigata DF, he calmly spread the play to the left side. Ota, who had taken up a high position, put in a ground cross and Takahashi made a run, but it only resulted in a corner kick.

Niigata, who is trying to counterattack, gradually dominates the ball. In the 22nd minute, central MF Silva and the player in the area play a one-two. Tokyo cannot stop it here, and MF Silva receives a direct return and moves skillfully to the center of the area. However, the shot is blocked by Morishige's sliding tackle. In the 26th minute, Kajiyama is turned back by Niigata MF Silva's breakthrough again, allowing a pass to the back of Tokyo's defense. Niigata FW Yamazaki receives it and brings it to the center with a sharp dribble. Here, Yoshimoto is evaded, but the decisive shot narrowly misses to the right, avoiding a crisis.

In the latter part of the first half, Niigata had possession of the ball for a long time and threatened the Tokyo defense with direct passes. However, Tokyo remained calm, fought tenaciously, and did not concede a goal. On the contrary, in the 36th minute, Takahashi scored a header from a left corner kick. In the 41st minute, Morishige unleashed a direct volley from a free kick earned by Ishikawa. Although they couldn't capitalize on chances centered around set plays, they maintained a one-goal lead going into the second half.

Takahashi scores his first goal of the season, Morishige scores the third goal, and we win together!

The second half also saw the game start early. In the 49th minute, Mori Shige from his own team sent a free kick to the front line. Maeda received it with a chest trap and rushed into the area. Despite being sandwiched between Niigata MF Leo Silva and DF Ooi in the left area, he persistently dribbled and broke through to the front. Then calmly assessed the situation around him and made a last pass to the center. Takahashi, who had timed his run well, pierced the net and scored a goal! From the restart opportunity, Maeda demonstrated strength and composure. Takahashi also utilized his forward momentum and scored an additional goal with his first goal of the season.

52 minutes, Maeda again created an opportunity from the left area, and Higashi, who received the ball freely, cut back the defender who came to close him down and created a scoring chance... but the shot was blocked. In the 55th minute, Hanyu was substituted for Kajiyama. In the 69th minute, Sandaza made his debut, followed by Nakajima. The team quickly introduced attacking players, maintaining balance while increasing the forward momentum and launching counterattacks, and continued to dominate the game.

76 minutes, Sandaza chased after the pass sent by Yonemoto to the right front line and crossed from the sideline. Nakajima's header, who had run in near the goal, went over the bar, but in the 78th minute Nakajima boldly made a move and earned a free kick on the left side. Morishige jumped and scored a spectacular header, successfully securing the third goal in response to Ota's sharp kick. Furthermore, aiming for an additional goal, in the 83rd minute Sandaza escaped from the Niigata DF by trapping Yonemoto's vertical pass in the left area and moving forward. Although he created a decisive opportunity, the shot lacked power and went straight to the goalkeeper...

Last, we were focused on holding off Niigata's counterattack without conceding any goals, but in the 4 minutes of additional time, Niigata MF Naruoka scored a sharp middle shot that hit the frame. This was saved by Konda with one hand and escaped to a corner kick, but in this situation, Morishige fouled in the area. Niigata MF Leo Silva scored a penalty kick, and we lost a goal... Still, we showed content and game management beyond conceding goals and won 3-1. In a united battle, we grabbed our first 3 points in the 2nd stage.

[Player Comments]
《East》
"Ota's cross is Tokyo's weapon. I believe that a good cross will always come, so I ran up to the front line. I have built a relationship of trust not only with myself but with the entire team. I think I was able to demonstrate that. Although we were able to score early on, I didn't want to focus solely on scoring goals and neglect other plays. I wanted us to work together as a team, including in defense."

"Sandaza"
"I think both the team and myself played well. It was my appearance after leading by two points, but I wanted to do my best to score more goals. I couldn't score myself, but as a team, we scored the third goal and it was a good performance throughout the game. I also thought the fans and supporters in Tokyo were wonderful. It was my first time playing at TOHO S., but I'm very happy that we could share the joy together at the end."

[Summary of Massimo FICCADENTI's press conference]
"We were able to score early in the game. After that, Niigata FW Yamazaki created a chance, but I think it was a well-balanced game. The midfield players fought fiercely and launched dangerous counterattacks against Niigata, who were leading and increasing their offensive pressure. We were able to calm down a bit when we scored a goal from a good start in the second half, making it 2-0. And the goal scored by Morishige from a free kick was an important one that led to the team's confidence. We had a strong desire to finish the game without conceding a goal, but they showed us a good performance. Being able to demonstrate such a performance allows us to approach future games with a positive mindset."

[Niigata - Coach Masaaki Yanagishita's Press Conference Summary]
"Regarding defense, it is always communicated to the players that when they are in a bad position or in a bad posture, they should not force themselves to go for the ball and instead follow the rule of not challenging and getting taken away. We gave them a chance. The third goal clearly exposed our weakness. As for the offense, the communication between the passer and the receiver did not go well. Maybe not being able to secure points despite playing a good game in the previous match affected us, and the start of the game was not good. Since we have another match soon, we want to switch our mindset and approach it."