match Match Schedule & Results

[Reserves]
GK:21, Kohei YAMAGUCHI
DF:18, Takahiro YANAGI
MF:-
FW:-

○ Match Digest
Tokyo, having advanced through the preliminary league with three consecutive wins, appeared from the 2nd Round of the final tournament. Their opponent was YOKOGAWA MUSASHINO FC Youth, also based in Tokyo. YOKOGAWA advanced to the 2nd Round after defeating Tochigi SC Youth in a penalty shootout in the 1st Round. Tokyo, having no 1st Round match, made thorough preparations. Also, third-year GK Koki ITO, who participated in the '2014 National GK Camp,' returned, allowing Tokyo to challenge the YOKOGAWA match with a solid lineup. The match kicked off at 1:00 p.m. at the home Tokyo Gas Musashino-En Multipurpose Ground under light rain and chilly conditions.

Before the match, Coach Sato encouraged the players, saying, "To play with this team for as long as possible, let's not get tense and play as usual, and absolutely win," and "Embodying our style of soccer is the shortcut to victory!!" before sending them out onto the pitch.

Kickoff is by Tokyo. Within 30 seconds, FW Nagasawa took the first shot, entering the game in good form. Tokyo, controlling the pace from the start, scored first at the 3rd minute. Holding the ball high up, defensive midfielder Abe delivered a perfect through pass to Hasukawa, who cut in from the left side. Hasukawa calmly assessed the opposing goalkeeper’s movement and calmly placed the ball into the net to make it 1-0. Having taken an early lead, Tokyo then increased ball possession and played most of the first half in the opponent’s half. Even when the ball was taken by the opponent, they pressed closely and used sliding tackles and physical effort to regain possession.

Tokyo maintained good spacing among players, carefully circulated the ball including the DF line, used the pitch widely to prevent the opponent from narrowing down where to win the ball, and shook the opposing DF to score additional goals. At the 9th minute, through that passing work, they attacked inside the opponent's territory, and finally MF Takahashi aimed for a middle-range shot, but he failed to connect properly and the opposing GK caught it. Then at the 16th minute, Nagasawa, Hasukawa, FW Watanabe, and MF Koyama combined excellently to break down the opposing DF and brought the ball in front of the opponent's goal, but unfortunately it was ruled offside.

Tokyo not only circulated the ball with short passes but also added variety to their attack, with Takahashi playing lofted passes from deep midfield behind the opposing defenders. In the 18th minute, Takahashi delivered a superb pass to Tamiya, who was positioned high on the right side, setting up a shot and demonstrating the high quality of each play.

Although several clear chances were created in the first half, Tokyo was unable to score additional goals. There were also moments when they faced counters utilizing the opponent’s long balls, but they responded well by maintaining proper numbers and did not concede any goals, going into halftime with a 1-0 lead.

Halftime. Coach Sato encouraged the players, saying, "We are maintaining possession, so let’s build up calmly without rushing," and "Be careful of the opponent’s counters," before sending the players back onto the pitch for the second half.

In the second half, Tokyo continued to dominate the match. From the start, the opponents aggressively pushed forward to score, but Tokyo’s organized defense prevented the opposing players from playing freely even when they entered the vital area, quickly regaining possession. At the 53rd minute, after winning the ball on the defensive line, DF Onishi sent a long pass to forward Nagasawa, who launched a counterattack into the opponent’s territory and earned a corner kick. Nagasawa delivered the corner to the far side, and Onishi headed it back in. Although the ball was initially cleared by the opposing defenders, Takahashi collected the rebound and took a mid-range shot from outside the area but failed to add to the score. The second goal came in the 57th minute. After Takahashi was fouled and earned a free kick, Nagasawa sent the ball into the box, where first-year DF Okazaki skillfully connected with the inside of his right foot to shake the net, extending the lead to 2-0!!

After that, Tokyo maintained a solid defensive block, preventing the opponent from scoring and secured a shutout victory to advance to the quarterfinals. Thank you very much for coming today and for your warm support.