We cannot afford to lose. The Verdy match at home

　The 1st stage will have a 2-week interval and will welcome Sec. 3, facing Tokyo Verdy 1969 in a home game. It is natural for teams based in the same Tokyo to not want to lose, but after the 2nd round against Oita and the Levain Cup match against Kashima, consecutive losses are no longer acceptable. Even though the two lost matches were not lacking in quality, we hope for an attacking style of soccer that leads to goals.

　With today's match, Tsuchi achieved his 200th appearance in the J1 League. He just returned from the World Cup qualifiers with the Japan national team, but he showed a lively presence on the field. On the other hand, Kaji, who played the full match against Singapore, did not make it to the bench considering his condition. Tokunaga, who played as the right full-back in the Nabisco Cup, and Shigenobu and Jean, who formed a new partnership for the first time this season, played as the center-backs. In addition, Kurisawa (a 4th-year student at Ryutsu Keizai University) who has been registered as a special designated player for the JFA and J.League since the end of February, made his first appearance on the bench.

　Verdy, which broke the J-League's youngest appearance record at the age of 15 years and 10 months, is attracting attention with the "monster" striker Morimoto. In addition, Ewerton has also returned from injury. With a strong front two and skilled players in the midfield such as Hirano, Nejime, Hayashi, and Kobayashi Daigo, their fast passing game should be a threat to Tokyo. We want to increase ball control and disrupt Verdy's attacks.

Unable to grasp the rhythm and allow the first goal

　The match started with Verdy's kickoff. Tokyo took advantage of Verdy's lack of connection in passing from the beginning and progressed the game. After winning two consecutive right corner kicks, Toda broke through the left side in the 6th minute, and Abe took a shot on the last pass. In the 7th minute, Ishikawa took a powerful shot from the left FK in the area. Jahn followed up on the rebound from the goalkeeper, but couldn't find the target. In the 11th minute, Toda, Imano, and Kanazawa connected from Imano's interception, and Imano, who had entered the penalty area, received a pass. Although he couldn't take a shot due to a big trap, Imano showed his characteristic play of stealing the ball and attacking.

　Verdy had a chance in the 14th minute when MF Ohashi passed the ball to FW Morimoto, who broke through on the right side and crossed. FW Mboma was waiting in the center, but Shigeki and Tokunaga closed in and didn't allow him to take a shot. This was almost the only clear chance for Verdy in the early stages. However, in the 18th minute, Tokyo was caught offside, just after the restart. Jahn cut off the pass to Mboma on the front line on the right side of Tokyo's territory. However, the ball fed to Verdy's MF Hirano. Hirano dribbled forward and took a powerful shot. The ball, which was hit with a slight loop, went over Doi's head and was sucked into the right side of the goal. With a slight mistake, Verdy conceded the opening goal with a "one-shot."

　With this momentum, Verdy immediately had a chance in the 19th minute when Morimoto received a through pass from Emboma and dribbled past two Tokyo defenders in the penalty area to take a shot. It was a decisive moment, but it was saved by Doi's left foot. In the 21st minute, Emboma had a chance on a counterattack, but his shot missed the target. Tokyo launched a counterattack with Ishikawa leading the way. In the 26th minute, Ishikawa received a cross from Kanazawa on the left and took a powerful volley shot with his right foot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper and resulted in a corner kick. In the 29th minute, Ishikawa picked up a loose ball from a cross and aimed with his left foot, but it went over the goal. In the 30th minute, Lucas and Ishikawa launched a quick attack, with Lucas crossing the ball and Inomoto picking up the loose ball and passing it to Kanazawa. Toda and Ishikawa connected with the cross, and Lucas took a shot from the front of the goal. It seemed like they had regained the momentum with a wave of attacks, but they couldn't find the back of the net. On the contrary, they lost momentum towards the end of the first half and entered the second half trailing by one goal without creating any chances.

Despite being behind, they showed their strength by catching up!

　In the first half, Tokyo tried to exploit the shallow defensive line of Verdy but was caught offside 7 times. However, in the 50th minute, Toda cleverly trapped a long ball from Jean and broke free in front of the goal using his right foot. He shot one step ahead of the chasing defenders and the ball rolled into the left side of the goal! The coach's intention of "quickly going behind the defense" paid off and Tokyo equalized. Wanting to score a second goal immediately, Tokyo substituted Baba for Abe in the 51st minute. They went for an additional goal with Baba playing as an attacking midfielder. In the 54th minute, Lucas aimed for a free kick just outside the penalty area due to the opponent's defender committing a handball foul, but it hit the crossbar. In the 57th minute, Lucas persisted on the right side and Toda connected, allowing Imano to take a shot, but the goalkeeper made a save. Tokyo continued to dominate possession and attack, but they couldn't fully grasp the rhythm.

　In the 63rd minute, a back pass from Konno caused trouble, and MF Ugo, who came on as a substitute, received a pass from Emboma on the left side as he closed in on the goal. He evaded the onrushing Toi and passed to Hirano in front of the goal, who then took a decisive shot, but Konno, who had covered, cleared it with a header. However, the current challenge for Tokyo is that they continue to invite trouble one after another. In the following 64th minute, Kanazawa and Emboma collided in the penalty area. Taking advantage of Kanazawa's injury and fall, Yoneyama, who had been attacking inside the area, passed to the left side. Hirano, who received the pass, crossed the ball, and Emboma scored with a header, allowing the lead to slip away once again.

　Tokyo, who was left behind by Verdy, couldn't give up easily. In the 70th minute, Kurisawa was substituted for Toda. Verdy also substituted Sakura for Morimoto and both teams went for "one more goal". And in the 71st minute, just after the substitution, Tokyo got a free kick on the left side of the center. Jean, who shook off his marker, jumped into the far side and scored a diving header with Miyazawa's kick! This goal immediately reset the game.

Dramatic come-from-behind victory with Baba's final goal!

　Tokyo made a substitution, replacing Miyazawa with Miura in the 80th minute, using their last card. The intensity never wavered in the back-and-forth match. Immediately after, they pressed in midfield and won the ball, passing it to Lucas up front. Lucas connected the ball to the right side, where Ishikawa crossed it to Kurisawa, who was free on the left side of the goal. Kurisawa calmly sent a precise pass with his head to Baba, who had made a run into the goal area. Baba effortlessly headed the ball into the net with impeccable timing, like a quick play in volleyball. This goal, scored by the combination of Lucas and Ishikawa, and the partnership of Kurisawa and Baba, pushed Verdy ahead with their third goal, making them the new heroes.

　In the 82nd minute, Lucas received a pass from Kurisawa and dashed straight to the front line. He evaded the goalkeeper and faced an open goal, but his shot was blocked by Verdy's defender Ubeda's determined sliding tackle, preventing an additional goal. Verdy's subsequent counterattack was successfully defended as a team, and the game ended. It was a challenging situation to concede two goals early on, but the team never gave up and secured a hard-fought victory. They turned a tough match into a win, earning 3 valuable points for the future!

【Player Comments】《Kurisawa》"In the scene of the winning goal, I made eye contact with Mr. Ishikawa before the cross came. I thought about aiming for a direct goal, but I knew that player Baba would come in, so I switched to a pass. There was some tension, but I was conscious of getting involved in the goal in front of the goal, and I thought it would be good if I could play my own game. I think it has just begun. The university matches will start next week, but when I participated in practice, I did my best and I want to continue to level up in the future."《Baba》"Before the substitution, Coach Hara instructed me not only to shoot, but also to pass to the side and jump out to the front of the goal. I had a break since the end of last year due to injury, and I still have some pain in my leg. However, the ball is also attached to my foot, so I feel that I am in good condition. Personally, the most regrettable thing was that I couldn't participate in the World Youth last year, but I want to appeal more and more in the J-League from now on."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "In the match against a team that shares the same hometown of Tokyo, both the players and staff had a strong desire not to lose. Verdy had also lost in the opening match against Iwata and the second match against Kashiwa, despite playing well, so we expected them to come with a high level of motivation today. However, I thought they would come and connect more passes, but they surprisingly easily managed to get the ball to Morimoto and Emboma in the front line. And there were many scenes where they dropped the ball with Emboma's strong header and we couldn't pick it up. The first goal was a great goal by Hirano from Jean's mistake, which gave Verdy, who hadn't scored in the league, momentum. In the first half, Tokyo was actively shooting, but lacked ingenuity. They shot from a distance without really breaking through, so I instructed them at halftime to play one-two passes or one-on-one battles to break through. I also told them that Verdy's defensive line was shallow, so if they put the ball behind a beat earlier, Abe and Toda would definitely break through without being offside. The use of Baba and Kurizawa was expected to create a completely different rhythm from Abe and Toda. Perhaps because of this year's slogan, it became a dramatic match (laughs), and we can also expect Kelly's return, so we want to accelerate from here and improve our condition. The absence of each representative player will continue in the future, but we must still win and give more opportunities to the players. If we can overcome that, we will become a stronger team."

[Verdy Ardiles Press Conference Summary] "It was the best game since the start of the season, and there were some satisfying aspects. Emboa played a big role in that, as he posed a threat to the opponents whenever we attacked. The combination with Morimoto was also very good, and Morimoto himself remained a dangerous presence. However, there was a situation where if we could score one more goal, we could have won the game, but we couldn't convert the chances to extend the lead to two goals. And as our attack improved, our defense became slightly weaker. We lost the ball in midfield after attempting a counter-attack, allowing the opponents to launch a counter-attack of their own. The defense had a hard time dealing with the way the ball was taken from us. We made three costly mistakes, and the consequences were significant. I feel dissatisfied with conceding goals from seemingly insignificant situations. There are still many areas that need improvement."