I want to find a winning opportunity away in the final match of the 7-game series

Sec. 4 of the league, facing Kashima Antlers away, three days after the ACL Jiangsu Suning match.
Tokyo's record against Kashima has not seen a victory since 2008, and a tough battle is expected away from home. However, this match aims for a league three consecutive wins by utilizing the solid defense that has been built up and devising offensive strategies.

Tokyo, Abe is out of the squad due to poor physical condition. Therefore, Maeda and Higashi are the two forwards. Mizunuma on the right side and Tanabe on the left. They will face the match with a formation of double defensive midfielders, Yonehara and Hashimoto. Additionally, Hirayama makes his comeback since September 12th last year (2nd Sec. 10 against Kobe), and he will be on the bench. Kashima, on the other hand, starts with MF Suzuki and MF Caio on both sides. FW Akasaki and FW Kanazaki form the two forwards in a 4-4-2 formation.

The heavy rain that fell in the early afternoon has stopped, but Kashima Soccer Stadium is now covered in clouds and fog has started to appear. The match started at 15:04 with Tokyo's kickoff.

Enter the game from defense and prevent Kashima from gaining momentum

Pressing aggressively from the start, they prevented Kashima from finding their rhythm with coordinated defense, and when they won the ball, they attacked the opponent's flanks.

7 minutes: Mizunuma brings the ball to the right front line, shakes off the opponent's mark and drops back to the right area, crosses. Tanabe connects the cleared ball from Kashima with a header in front of the area, and Hashimoto aims for the goal.
18 minutes: Higashi -> Mizunuma, who broke through the opponent's back line and jumped out to the right front line, made a negative play. Once again, Higashi sent a ground cross to Hashimoto, who was free just in front of the central area, creating a decisive opportunity, but Hashimoto's shot went over the bar.

As time passed, Kashima gradually allowed ball possession and was often pushed back into their own half, but Tokyo maintained their concentration and did not concede any goals.

33 minutes: Kashima's left side FW Kanazaki brought the ball up to a high position, crossed it to the front of the goal where MF Suzuki jumped in, and was hit with a decisive diving header, but it went slightly to the left.

38 minutes: From a quick restart, Yonemoto sends a vertical pass, and Higashi on the right side immediately spreads out to the side. Mizunuma crosses the ball, and Maeda in the far area jumps in with a header, but the shot hits the goalkeeper's face. In the final stages, they were unable to create opportunities to turn the game into an attack, but they still held Kashima back with organized defense and ended the first half with a scoreless draw.

After the start of the second half, we allowed the first goal and our countermeasures against Kashima were also fruitless...

It was the second half where we wanted to extend the scoreless time to make Kashima impatient and connect to chances, but we couldn't break through Tokyo's attacking scenes.

50 minutes: Kashima loses the ball. Midfielder Keisuke Ogasawara passes the ball to the right forward, Akasaki, who runs into a high position on the right area and makes a move. Maruyama blocks midfielder Suzuki, who enters a shooting position on the right area, but... the loose ball is taken away, and left full-back Yamamoto shoots the ball in front of the goal. It seemed for a moment that forward Kanazaki on the left area was in an offside position, but he easily scores, conceding the first goal.

54 minutes: Kawano is substituted for Tanabe and brought in on the left side.
59 minutes: East passes the ball to the right and then passes it to the center, preparing for a counterattack. Mizunuma, who has circled around the center, takes a shot.
60 minutes: From the right side development, Mizunuma aimed for the opponent's gap and took a shot, but all of them were off target.
62 minutes: Kajiyama is substituted for Mizunuma as a defensive midfielder. Hashimoto moves to the right side and tries to steal the ball from the front line.
66 minutes: From a pass exchange between Higashi and Kawano on the left side, Yonemoto enters the area. Connecting with the second, Maeda passes to Kawano on the left area, who aims for a loose ball. However, Hashimoto's overhead kick only results in a corner kick.
74 minutes: Hirayama is substituted in, forming a two-top with Maeda, with Higashi on the left side and Kawano on the right, they aggressively approached the Kashima goal.
80 minutes: Maeda breaks through the left front line and passes a ground ball near the goal. Hirayama skillfully controls it with his foot and turns around. He drops a short pass to Kawano, who has moved to the center. It was a decisive opportunity, but he got too close to the ball and missed the shot...

It seemed like they were on the offensive with the introduction of Hirayama, but they were unable to capitalize on the opportunity and instead, they were unable to steal the ball from Kashima's composed and varied passing game.
88 minutes: The ball is passed around on the right side of Kashima, and Almir meets MF Shibasaki's right cross and powerfully stabs it into the center,.... Having conceded the second goal and with no hope left, this season also ended with a bitter defeat away at Kashima.


[Player Comments]
"I wanted to score somehow because it was a game in a losing situation. There are many things that I should do as a forward for Tokyo, but I cannot do all of them. I was thinking about doing each play thoroughly and trying to make plays that lead to goals in the opponent's penalty area. It was important to produce results, but I only feel frustrated because I couldn't achieve the result of scoring or winning. I think that if I can't continue to give my all, I won't be able to stand on the field. In the "strength of Tokyo," I want to do my best to show my own strengths."

"Maruyama"
"I think our approach to the game and the first half performance were good. In the second half, we believed that if we continued to fight, the opponent would become impatient and give us a chance. However, we allowed the opponent to create a 2-on-1 situation for the first goal, and for the second goal, we gave them space while pushing forward and attacking. It was exactly what Kashima intended to do by exploiting the space behind the full-back, and we conceded a goal in that way. We also created chances, but whether we could convert them or not determined the outcome of the match. It is not solely the responsibility of the attacking players, but as a team, we need to improve."

[Summary of Coach Hiroshi JOFUKU's Press Conference]
"Many fans and supporters came to support us, but unfortunately we couldn't meet their expectations. Today's plan was to nullify Kashima's strengths while launching counterattacks, and in the first half, it was the kind of performance we had envisioned. We may have been too fixated on counterattacks and felt that we had little time, but it wasn't a bad performance. We need to reflect on using too much energy on defense as a whole. We wanted to create more time for ourselves to circulate the ball. We need to deflect the strong pressure from teams like Kashima and control the game to break them down. It was a game where we felt that wall, but I don't think it's an insurmountable wall. We want to share the frustration of today and our determination with the fans and supporters and achieve good results."

[Kashima・Masatada ISHII Coach's Press Conference Summary]
"Despite the bad weather, many fans and supporters came to watch our football, and it has become a source of strength for the players. With lots of cheers, I think the players were able to keep going until the end. Although we couldn't establish an attacking form in the first half, it was a good result that we were able to score the opening goal and add another goal, and finish the game without conceding any goals. During the game, there were some moments where the defensive balance was disrupted after scoring the first goal, so I think that is an area that needs to be corrected in the future."