Levain Cup Semifinals, aiming for the final

Semifinal round of the Levain Cup is held. Urawa Reds will compete, and the first match will be held as a home game at Ajinomoto Stadium.
This tournament, both Tokyo and Urawa participated in the ACL, so they joined from the quarterfinals. Tokyo defeated Fukuoka, and Urawa defeated Kobe, advancing to the semifinals.

Tokyo is without Japan national team players Morishige and Maruyama. In addition, Tokunaga suffered a knee injury in the previous league match against Hiroshima and was forced to withdraw. As a result, Takahashi and Yoshimoto are starting as center backs. Muroya is starting as right back, Ogawa on the left. Tanabe and Hashimoto are in midfield, with Hayashi on the right and Nakajima on the left. Maeda is up top, with Higashi behind him. Kajiyama and Kono are on the bench.
Riku NOZAWA and Mizunuma will also be on the bench as substitutes.

Urawa is currently in a great state, leading both the 2nd stage and the overall ranking of the league. With the absence of Japan national team's GK Nishikawa, DF Makino, and MF Kashiwagi, as well as the coach Petrovic's absence in the second leg of the quarterfinals, he was suspended from the bench for this first leg. Therefore, Coach Hori took charge, using a 3-back formation with DF Moriwaki, DF Endo, and DF Nasu. FW Zlatan is up top. MF Muto and MF Lee are the shadows. MF Aoki and MF Abe are the central midfielders. MF Komai on the right wing and MF Sekine on the left wing have been deployed in this lineup.

In the J.League Cup, we aim for the final for the first time in 7 seasons, and at the same time, we faced Urawa in the league (2nd stage, Sec. 12) on September 17th (Sat) and suffered a 1-3 come-from-behind defeat. This is also a match where we want to take revenge, while utilizing the lessons learned and the confidence gained here.

Due to the influence of the typhoon, the match started at 19:34 in Tokyo under the weather with occasional light rain.

Withstanding Urawa's attacks, gradually grasping the rhythm

From the beginning, they aggressively pressed and tried to steal the opponent's ball. They were conscious of the speed of transition and moved the ball forward, but they couldn't finish. On the other hand, Urawa Reds approached the Tokyo goal using long balls and side changes.
6 minutes: Right MF Abe makes a big side change to the left front line. DF Moriwaki's cross flows to the far side, but this time a starting point is created on the left front line and a right cross is made. This is stuck by MF Li in the area and dropped to MF Sekine, who takes a shot, but Akimoto makes a save.

15 minutes: Erik, the forward in front of the area, turns around and shoots while carrying the Tokyo defense on his back.
18 minutes: Urawa clears the ball to Maeda. This leads to Tokyo's MF Lee inside the field, who passes it to central FW Zlatan, who then takes a decisive shot to left MF Mutoh, but... just slightly to the left.
24 minutes: From a one-two in the center of Urawa, MF Komai delivers a sharp right cross. The ball was deflected by Akimoto with his right hand, but it fell to the far side where Urawa FW Lee jumped in and created a scoring opportunity.

However, Tokyo, which survived this pinch, gradually surpassed with its quick start and began to grasp the rhythm.
35 minutes: Tanabe -> Nakajima, a through pass is sent to Hayu who broke through the opponent's defense and entered the area. However, Hayu couldn't turn forward... Still, he controlled the ball and passed it to Maeda who was moving up on the right, but Maeda was blocked by the opponent... He couldn't take advantage of a decisive chance. Immediately after that, Hayu, who had moved up to the right front line, crossed the ball. The opponent's goalkeeper and Higashi competed for it, and Nakajima reacted to the ball that slipped from the goalkeeper's hands. He took a shot, but the play just before that was a foul.

Urawa Reds couldn't contain the speedy attack of Urawa and there were moments where they were brought to the finish, but they still didn't let the goal break. Tokyo gradually took control of the game with a dynamic battle, but the first half ended scoreless. The match was carried over to the second half.

Captain Higashi scores a goal with determination! Takes the lead but...

The game started moving in the second half.
47 minutes: Tokyo earns a free kick just outside the opponent's penalty area on the right side due to a handball foul. Tokyo aims directly for the goal with a powerful shot, but it is saved by the opponent's goalkeeper with one hand, resulting in a left corner kick. Yoshimoto attempts a header in response to Tokyo's kick from the corner.
49 minutes: Higashi expands to the right. Muroya sends an early cross, and Hayashi in the right area heads it to the near post. Higashi jumps in from the center, followed by Takahashi, and Higashi heads it into the goal. Higashi, who is serving as captain in this match, takes a determined goal and scores the opening point.

However, Urawa launches a counterattack from here. They initiate attacks from the sides, and Tokyo will be pushed back into their own half.
53 minutes: Gave consecutive corner kicks, but cleared them with great effort. Continued to stay focused and prevented Urawa from bringing the ball to a finish.

64 minutes: Tokyo launches a counterattack, Nakajima dribbles and brings the ball in, and Higashi moves up from the right. They create a scene of 2-2 with Urawa, but Nakajima's pass to Higashi on the right in front of the area is slightly off, causing a decrease in speed. Furthermore, Higashi tries to get into a shooting position with a one-two with Nakajima, but is blocked by the opponent's defense.
Urawa quickly counterattacked from here. The shot by FW Takagi on the left front line was blocked by Tokyo DF in the end.
67 minutes: Nakajima, who sprinted quickly from the restart, aimed from an angleless position in the left area but was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.

68 minutes: As the line gradually stretched, it became a back-and-forth of counterattacks. Kawano was substituted for Hanyu in an attempt to create their own time and control the game.
72 minutes: Urawa continues to play aggressively, making successive attacking moves and substituting FW Koroki as the third player.
77 minutes: Urawa's MF Mutoh's vertical pass is received by FW Okazaki with his chest and turns around. He advances to the left side and switches with FW Takagi on the outside. While circling around FW Takagi, he is shot in the middle, and the high-precision shot goes into the upper right corner of the goal. Urawa's first shot in the second half is scored... and the score is tied.

80 minutes: This time, Urawa's left-sided FW Takagi moves to the right front line. MF Hirakawa received the ball and was marked by Ogawa, but he dribbled inside and passed it on the ground to the free MF Mutoh who was waiting in space. He takes a direct shot and scores... two consecutive goals conceded...

80 minutes: Substitute Maeda with Hirayama.
82 minutes: Nathan BURNS is substituted for Nakajima. Formation changed to 4-4-2.
88 minutes: East, who ran into the left area, aimed for a shot but missed to the left. In additional time, Hiraoka jumped into the near side with a right cross from Kawano, but the ball went to the opponent's goalkeeper. Furthermore, Burns dribbled the ball to the front line, and East on the left and Kawano on the right tried to bring it inside and aim for a goal, but were blocked by the Urawa defenders.

The attitude of attacking until the end was not lost, but we conceded 2 goals and were defeated in a comeback, resulting in losing 3 points at home.

[Player Comments]
"East"
"When I received the ball on the left side and cut in, I saw Muroya. Our aim against Urawa was to use the sides well, and we were conscious of that today. If we can improve our accuracy, we can score more goals, including crosses and how we enter the middle. We have no choice but to level up in practice, but we want to adjust even in a short time and use it next time. The way we pressed from the front should have been disliked by the opponent. We want to review and organize our way of playing after taking the lead. This is not the end. We want to prepare to win next time with a positive mindset."

"Hanyu"
"I was thinking about what I could show to help this team reach the finals. Throughout the game, I was conscious of settling the ball and then moving forward."
(Regarding the late goal)
Regardless of whether I was on the field or not, we were constantly pushed back during that period. The opponent often starts their attacks from the midfield or deep inside Tokyo's territory, and if that happens, the probability of conceding a goal increases. I think we needed to play in a higher position and create our own opportunities. We want to make efforts to play football in a position closer to Urawa's goal."

[Summary of Yoshiyuki SHINODA's press conference]
"We lost the first match and it became a difficult situation. We started the game well and had a few close calls, but managed to overcome them. We were able to regain our pace and continue the game. After taking the lead, we wanted to change the situation of being pushed back, so we substituted Kawano for Hayu to create our own time. In a situation where we couldn't move forward easily, we decided to create time on the sides rather than increasing the number of defenders, so we used a substitution card. The goals we conceded were our own mistakes. The first goal was scored by cutting inside, and the second goal was a counterattack from a pass mistake, with a pass coming from the side. We wanted to keep the ball in the opponent's half a little longer and create more pressure. We tried a few counterattacks, but couldn't score the second goal, resulting in this outcome. We reflect on our performance, but we want to switch gears and do our best in the next match."

[Urawa - Coach Takafumi HORI's Press Conference Summary]
"We approached the semifinal as 180 minutes and talked about playing without panic with the consciousness of the first 90 minutes today. We expected Tokyo to come aggressively from the beginning and thought it would be a tough time in the early stages. The opponent had a long time with the ball and there were tough situations, but the players endured it and were able to finish the first half. We told them some points to fix at halftime and went into the second half. We conceded a goal in the second half, but we were able to turn it around and score two goals. We talked about taking advantage and returning home, and thanks to the players' efforts, we were able to achieve that. The players played by thinking for themselves while the coach was absent. FW Takagi's goal was a goal that showed his strengths. Also, MF Hirakawa created the second goal by creating a starting point on the side. The players were thinking about what they should do in each situation. I think it's the result of the accumulation of the coach asking them to make use of their roles and strengths in their respective positions. I think we were able to give our all with the consciousness of the coach being able to return in a good situation."