A crucial moment to test the team's true strength

　Kelly, Tetsuya ITO, Miura, Kagami... and injuries continue. And in this round, Tokyo will face Yokohama F.Marinos, the champion of the Nabisco Cup, without Amaral due to accumulated warnings, with a difficult lineup. Moreover, in the remaining 5 rounds, they will face teams fighting for relegation to J2 and teams competing for the top spot like Kashima, and the pressure will be different from usual as they face opponents whose intentions have changed. Truly, now is the crucial moment where the team's strength will be tested.

　Among them, today's starting members are Fukuda as the top striker, Sato on the right midfield, Kaburagi in the center, Masamitsu Kobayashi on the left, Shitahira and Asari as defensive midfielders, and the defensive line consists of Komine, Yamao, Sandro, and Fujiyama. And on the bench, there are GK Ozawa, FW Toda, as well as fresh members including DF Minoru Kobayashi, MF Miyazawa, and FW Enomoto, making their first appearance in this season's league match.

Attacking Yokohama F.Marinos, struggling Tokyo

　The game progressed at the pace of F.Marinos. In the 7th minute, Tokyo cut off F.Marinos' back pass and Sato, who was free on the left side, approached the goal, but his long dribble went over the goal line and they couldn't create many chances afterwards. F.Marinos had a free kick and a corner kick in the 5th minute, and in the 12th minute, MF Nakamura took a shot from a long-distance free kick. In the 17th minute, Nakamura aimed for the goal again from a free kick, followed by two consecutive corner kicks. In the 20th minute, they had another corner kick and created 5 shots from set plays, but on the other hand, Tokyo was put at a disadvantage with Asari's first shot in the 28th minute.

　F.Marinos dominates the ball with a solid defense from Endo and Kaneko's double pivot, while Nakamura moves in all directions. CB Matsuda frequently pushes forward. Tokyo's right side is pushed back by the aggressive play of left MF Dutra, struggling to counterattack from a defensive position.

　In the 30th minute, F. Marinos' Matsuda made a run forward to receive a pass from Jo and attempted a shot. However, just after that, in the 31st minute, Tokyo's Komine made a long ground pass from the right, and Fukuda broke through behind the defense and took a powerful shot. Unfortunately, it hit the side netting, but in the 33rd minute, he connected with a header from Sato's cross, giving a glimpse of hope for a goal... In the 36th minute, the ball was passed from Dutra on the left side of F. Marinos to Nakamura in the center, who exchanged a series of short return passes with Jo, finishing with a soft shot from Nakamura. In the 37th minute, after another exchange of passes between Nakamura and Jo, this time Jo took a shot. This play resulted in a corner kick, and Komura attempted a header, but none of the attempts found the goal. In stoppage time, Tokyo finally transitioned quickly from defense to attack, and Sato delivered a cross, but it just missed Fukuda. The first half was dominated by the defense of Yamao and Komine, but they did not allow any goals, ending the half at 0-0.

Despite being scored first by Shunsuke Nakamura, they quickly catch up with Toru Kaburagi's fine goal

　In the second half, F.Marinos substituted FW Britt with FW Yasunaga due to injury. The game became a series of interceptions. Although the ball was exchanged in the midfield, neither team was able to create clear chances. In the 53rd minute, F.Marinos MF Hirama took a long-range dribble shot, which was the first shot for both teams combined.

　Tokyo, which tried to break free from the stalemate situation. In the 54th minute, rookie Miyazawa, who made his first appearance in the league, replaced Shimohira, and in the 58th minute, Toda replaced Kobayashi. Kaburagi as the top, Fukuda on the left midfield, Toda in the center, and Miyazawa in the defensive midfield formed the lineup. From here, they were finally able to establish a rhythm of attacking and defending.

　However, contrary to Tokyo's intention to attack, in the 67th minute, a pass from F.Marinos' Matsuda to Dutra on the left after dribbling, and Nakamura's header shot from the cross sent to the center. In the 69th minute, once again giving a free kick in front of the goal against Nakamura's dribble breakthrough. As expected, Nakamura and midfielder Endo feel threatening when they have the ball, and they try to develop their attack in coordination with the movements of forward Yasunaga and Castle. And finally, in the 73rd minute, when Castle headed the goal kick ball to the front line, Yasunaga received it in the center and kicked it to the left with a heel. Nakamura, who ran in with speed, shot from around the left corner of the penalty area and scored a goal. In the midst of adversity, they allowed the first goal that seemed to weigh heavily on them.

　However, Tokyo tried to attack with Fukuda and Fujiyama's combination from the left, as the right side was being held back more than usual. In the 75th minute, just after F.Marinos substituted Ueno for Kaneko, Fukuda received the ball from Fujiyama and returned it. Fujiyama dribbled into the center and passed to Miyazawa, who cut inside and sent a perfect ball to the back of the opponent's defense. Sato, while competing with the defender, stretched his leg and sent a lobbed pass to the center. Toda, who tried to head it, was used as a decoy, and Kagami, who jumped into the drop zone, took a direct shot! The equalizer goal that dampened the spirits of the F.Marinos, who were trying to gain momentum, was scored!!

　Tokyo, which was energized by this, in the 78th minute, Toda, who broke through behind the DF utilizing his speed, received a through pass from Miyazawa! However, the opposing GK Enomoto came out slightly earlier and caught it. Miyazawa, again, in the 80th minute, immediately aimed for a mid-range shot when he saw that there was no passing option. This shot was saved by the GK in front of him, but his boldness in taking the shot and his attitude of trying to break through with passes showed a fresh challenge that is characteristic of Tokyo. In the 86th minute, Enomoto, making his first appearance at the top, was substituted for Fukuda. Both teams tried to find a way to score with aggressive player substitutions, but neither team had the decisive touch and the match remained undecided after 90 minutes. It went into extra time.

Although it ended in a draw, the fresh players shine

　Tokyo saw Enomoto enter the left midfield, with the holding midfielder Miyazawa moving from the center to the left to provide support, while Yamao advanced from the center to the right side to initiate an attack. In the 94th minute of extra time, Sato's sharp cross was cleared by the DF in the center, and the loose ball was picked up by Toda, who managed to take a shot. The ball veered to the right of the goal, but it showcased Tokyo's characteristic attacking style. F. Marinos regained possession at the DF line, with Matsuda advancing towards the goal. In the 96th minute, they launched a quick counterattack, and in the end, Doih's clearance ball landed right in front of the advancing Matsuda... A decisive close-range shot was taken, but it hit the side netting, allowing Tokyo to escape danger. F. Marinos brought in the speedy FW Kijima in the 101st minute, but as the second half of extra time progressed, fatigue began to show across the entire team, while Tokyo consistently picked up loose balls to maintain possession. However, the next pass was anticipated and intercepted. In the 108th minute, a free kick was awarded in the central area of Tokyo's half, and Nakamura's free kick was met with a header from Shiro, but Doih securely caught it. In the 112th minute, Kobayashi Minoru, making his first appearance as a top player, came on for the injured Asari, but ultimately, neither side yielded, and the final whistle was heard.

　Manager Okuma talked about the proactive use of players after the game, saying, "We had a lot of disadvantaged time, but I wanted to instill the mindset of transitioning from defense to offense instead of just 'defending and defending to somehow score a goal.' Everyone's abilities don't change, so I trusted them and gave them opportunities, and I think both the players who participated and myself had the desire to 'win'. In the second half, that aspect came out, and there were parts where the team functioned better than in the first half." It was certainly a match that ended in a draw with remaining challenges, but what we gained for "Tomorrow's Tokyo" may have been greater than today's result of 1 point. It became a game with shining possibilities.

[Coach Lazaroni's Comment] "FC Tokyo has been deploying a clear tactic of dropping back into their own half and launching counterattacks from the beginning. They didn't give us much space, but I think we were still able to create chances within that limited space. Britto got injured, so we approached the second half with two forwards, Yasunaga and Jo, just like in the first half, constantly sending diagonal passes into the front line for the forwards to interact with as a post player and make runs. The opening goal came from a brilliant run by Nakamura, but we immediately let our guard down and relaxed, which led to a cheap mistake and conceding a goal. The failure to capitalize on the period of time when we were dominating was the reason for our defeat. The exhaustion of our physical strength was also a significant blow."

[Coach Okuma's Comment] "With so many injured players and members who have not experienced severe matches in J1, I expected the game to develop like this. I am not satisfied with the content, but it is a harvest to confirm that new sprouts are gradually growing. However, I keenly felt the lack of strength to win this kind of match. As a team and as individuals, we need to step up and strive harder to bring victory in these matches."