Fireworks Night, aiming for consecutive victories at home Ajinomoto Stadium!

　Sec. 16 will be a match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima. It is an important match where we want to show the momentum of the previous match against C Osaka, which we won by a large margin, at our home ground Ajinomoto Stadium and aim for consecutive victories. Lucas and Masahiko INOHA will be suspended due to accumulated warnings, but Kurisawa will be in the midfield and Kawaguchi will be in the left MF position. Kajiyama, who injured his ankle in the C Osaka match, will also be in the starting lineup without any major issues.

　Hiroshima is currently in 15th place with 3 wins, 4 draws, and 8 losses. During the break, they welcomed new coach Petrovic and had 1 win and 2 losses in the 3 matches in July. FW Weslley scored 4 goals in these 3 consecutive matches, and the other FW Sato also scored 1 goal, showing their scoring ability. However, they didn't have any clean sheet matches in the 3 games, revealing their defensive weakness. However, in the previous match against Kofu, although they conceded 3 goals in the first half, they switched from a 3-back to a 4-back in the second half and showed a well-balanced game. Basically, they defend with man-to-man marking against the opponent's attacking line, but how they will play against Tokyo's side attacks will be one of the highlights.

　In response to this, Tokyo needs to keep the front line moving with fluid movements and attack the sides. It will be a test of strength after a big victory to see if they can have a battle like the C Osaka match where "anyone can score from anywhere". The match is being held at Ajinomoto Stadium for the first time since the 12th round on May 6th, and the game started with Hiroshima's kickoff at 18:34.

Unable to show momentum, allowing the opponent to take the lead due to lack of concentration

　The start of the game saw both teams playing with great determination. The attack and defense went back and forth. In the 2nd minute, Imakano jumped out from a free kick and won a corner kick on the right side. Kicker Kajiyama received the ball once and passed it to Jean in the middle. From there, a through pass was made to the front line, but no one was able to connect with it. In the 10th minute, a pass went through to Imakano who had advanced on the inside of the left side. He then crossed the ball, but the opponent's goalkeeper caught it. In the 14th minute, Kajiyama connected with Jean's interception and attacked the goal, but was unable to take a shot.

　Hiroshima is lined up in a 4-4-2 formation on the team sheet, but MF Nakazato is playing as a right stopper in the back three. DF Komano is positioned as a right midfielder, and together with Nakazato, they have been able to contain Tokyo's attacks from the left side. In the center of the back three, Toda, who has just returned from suspension, is placed to initiate counters from the midfield and defensive lines, gradually finding their rhythm. In the 20th minute, a foul by Shigeno on FW Weslley on the left side of Tokyo's defense gives Hiroshima a free kick. Weslley, who fell down, quickly gets up and restarts the play. In response, Tokyo loses concentration and fails to organize their defensive formation. FW Sato jumps in front of the goal and scores, giving Hiroshima the lead.

　In the 33rd minute, Rychely was substituted for Kurizawa, who was unable to get involved with the ball in the front line due to defensive pressure. Bamba was positioned in the midfield to make use of Rychely's speed. However, in the 36th minute, Kajiyama was fouled and a right free kick was awarded, but Bamba -> Konno's header went over the bar. In the 38th minute, Rychely was fouled near the penalty arc and Bamba aimed directly for the goal with a free kick, but it also went over the goal. In the 39th minute, Kajiyama initiated a counterattack and passed to Rychely on the left, but it was offside. Unable to create a decisive chance, they went into the second half trailing by one goal.

The attacking team failed to score and had an additional point taken away...

　At halftime, fireworks were launched during the customary Fireworks Night, and the stands were energized to raise expectations for a comeback in the second half. In the second half, Abe was substituted for Miura as the top player, and Kajiyama was moved to the midfield to change the flow of the game with a two-top formation.

　However, in the 47th minute of the second half, the ball that entered the opponent's territory from Doi's goal kick was taken away, and Hiroshima MF Morisaki Hiroshi → FW Weslley quickly passed it to the front line. FW Sato, who ran into this ball, scored a precise goal, conceding the second goal. Jean tried to chase and stop Sato, but couldn't make it in time. They allowed an additional goal by being caught in a vulnerable position while trying to attack.

　In the 56th minute, Toda was substituted for Kawaguchi. After that, both teams' energy levels dropped and the game became stretched. Tokyo also created a decisive chance. In the 58th minute, Ishikawa received a pass from Rychely on the right and took a powerful shot from inside the penalty area in front of the goal! However, it was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper.

　In the 66th minute, Shigeki Mogi passes a vertical pass to ABE in the right area. ABE traps the ball, turns towards the goal, and takes a shot that hits the opponent's goalkeeper and narrowly misses to the left by just one ball's width... From the resulting left corner kick, Rychely attempts a header but hits the crossbar.

　In the 72nd minute, Rychely shot at the goal as the opponent's goalkeeper came out, but the shot was blocked by the opponent's defender at the last moment and the goal was not scored. In the end, Tokyo took 13 shots but failed to score. Hiroshima thoroughly executed counterattacks from a solid defense and scored 2 goals with 14 shots. It was a game at the home stadium, Ajinomoto Stadium, where they approached with a united effort, but they struggled with an unbalanced battle and unfortunately suffered a defeat. They couldn't continue their winning streak from the previous match.

　【Player Comments】《Kajiyama》"There were many defensive situations, and it turned into a chase, making it a tough match. It wasn't due to an injury, but in the second half, my legs were about to cramp, and I had to stop. The opponent was marking closely, and their press was fast; I should have moved more to break through, but I couldn't. It would have been better if I had made more forward movements. Given the content of today's match, it's understandable that we were booed. I will switch gears and make corrections during this break." 《Miura》"We have been conceding the first goal in the last few matches, and the way we concede and the timing of the additional goals are problematic. Today, our game management was poor. I should have instructed myself to focus more during the set piece that led to the first goal, and I regret that I couldn't control the game. It was after a big win against C Osaka, and it was our first time back at Ajinomoto in a while, so we had talked about not letting our guard down before the match. Unfortunately, we couldn't express that well on the field. Moving forward, our challenge is to reduce the goals conceded. We need to endure where we must, and when our pace comes, we can build momentum. We will regroup in these two weeks!"

　[Summary of Coach Garo's Press Conference] "Today was a very bad match. You could say it was the worst match we've had so far. There were mistakes in various areas, and although we played well in the last two matches against Kashima and C Osaka, we couldn't maintain that performance. All the mistakes as a team are my responsibility. Today, Hiroshima was superior in every aspect. It was a match where we could have conceded more than just two goals. The performance was poor in all positions: DF, MF, and FW. The defense couldn't mark well, and we couldn't transition the ball from midfield to forward. We lost against Kashima, but we had 19 shots while they had 12. The match against C Osaka was also good. However, this was a match where we dropped significantly in our fourth consecutive game. (What about Kurizawa's substitution?) First, he wasn't marking well, and everything was being shut down at his position. This slowed down our attacking speed, so I thought to utilize Richelly's speed. (Why stick to a three-back formation?) It's true that the three-back didn't function today, but regardless of whether it's a three-back or four-back, the team didn't function in all areas. I repeat, the responsibility lies entirely with me."

　[Summary of the press conference by Hiroshima's coach PETROVIC] "It was a very difficult match. In July, we had a good start with a win against Nagoya, but we lost to Chiba and Kofu. The most important thing today was that we won and earned points. From the beginning, we controlled the game, played good defense, and were able to launch good attacks from there. After taking a one-goal lead, FC Tokyo applied pressure, and there were times when we couldn't play our football, but the important thing was that we didn't concede during that time. In the previous two matches, we conceded goals, but it was good that we managed to get through that period without conceding. At halftime, we talked about continuing what we did in the first half and going for another goal, and that was successful. Today, I think Hiroshima showed great football in Tokyo. We lost two home games, but I believe we played very well as a team in these four matches. We are very happy about the return of Kazu Morisaki. He has been playing very well in these three matches, but there were parts where his condition wasn't up to par, so we substituted him. The reason for using Nakazato as the right stopper was that we wanted a player who could keep up with the speed of FC Tokyo's lone striker and two other offensive players."