Home Victory at National Stadium! Aim for consecutive wins with a tightened focus

　Sec. 19, Avispa Fukuoka will face National Stadium at home. After a fierce battle with Chiba in the previous section, it will be a match with only 2 days of rest, and fatigue is a concern. Coach Kuramata said, "We assessed the condition until this morning," and decided to face the match with the same starting members as the previous section. Inoha, who has finished serving his suspension, will also be on the bench.

　Fukuoka, who will face us, is currently in 17th place with 1 win, 8 draws, and 9 losses. Even after the appointment of new coach Ryoichi Kawakatsu, they have not been able to produce results with 3 draws and 3 losses, but they have gradually transformed into an attacking style of soccer. We cannot underestimate them, even though they are in a lower position. In particular, we have had 3 matches against Fukuoka this season, including the Nabisco Cup, and our compatibility has not been good with 2 draws and 1 loss. Additionally, after a big victory in the 15th section against C Osaka, Tokyo suffered a goalless defeat in the 16th section against Hiroshima, so we must tighten our focus and fight.

　Fukuoka, right MF Nakamura and left side back Alex actively participate in the attack. In response to this, once we take the ball, we want to quickly switch to the attack and exploit the space on the side. We aim to aggressively defend like in the Chiba match and launch fast attacks to aim for 3 points.

Breaking the stalemate with Fujiyama's first J1 goal!

　The match started at 7:04 pm in Fukuoka's kickoff at the hot and humid Japan National Stadium. From the beginning, Tokyo took the lead in the game, with Ishikawa and Kawaguchi's side breakthroughs threatening the Fukuoka goal. In the 1st minute, Ishikawa cut inside and Lucas, who had run in from the post of Fujiyama on the left to Kawaguchi in the center, took a shot. In the 5th minute, Kawaguchi cut deeply inside from the left side, but was cut off by the Fukuoka defender just before sending the final pass, resulting in a corner kick.

　9 minutes, Kajiyama dribbles up from the FK in the opponent's field and takes a middle shot. The opponent's GK deflects it and it becomes a CK. Redmine connects this left CK and aims for a header, but the momentum is weak and it is blocked by the bar. In the 10th minute, Lucas heads the cross from Ishikawa who broke through the right side, but the GK catches it. In the 13th minute, Ishikawa, who received Asari's pass, boldly dribbles and shoots from the right, but it cuts to the left.

　Although they attacked by bypassing the midfield press, they couldn't score against the solid Fukuoka defense in front of the goal, and time passed. In the 22nd minute, Fukuoka MF Yabuta received his second warning and was sent off. Tokyo had a numerical advantage, but the tempo of the game slowed down as if to match the opponent with one less player, and they couldn't bring it to a finish. However, it was Fujiyama who broke through this stalemate situation. He had been pushing up at the right time and creating scenes of actively jumping out to the front line, and that bore fruit.

　35 minutes, Fujiyama aims for the goal in response to the rebound of Ishikawa's shot from the center. Ishikawa shoots again after the Fukuoka DF's rebound, resulting in a left throw-in. Lucas receives the throw-in and passes it to the center. Fujiyama, who ran into this, shoots once again. The shot initially hit the front line's Akamine and the opponent's DF, but the shot quickly followed and changed course, grazing the opponent's DF and going into the bottom left corner! Fujiyama, 33 years old, joyfully scores his first J1 goal and takes the lead, heading into the second half with a one-point advantage.

Akamine, Ishikawa, Abe score in consecutive matches, Inoha also scores for a resounding victory!

　In the second half, Fukuoka changed from a 4-back to a 3-back formation. The left SB, Alex, was moved up one row to thicken the midfield and aim to steal the ball and launch a counterattack. Tokyo had a good start, earning a corner kick from Tokunaga's overlap and Ishikawa's cross, but they were unable to score an additional goal. In the 52nd minute, they were caught off guard due to a momentary lapse in marking. Fukuoka's right MF Nakamura threw the ball in. During the connection between DF Alex and FW Tanaka, Nakamura was left unmarked, allowing him to enter deep into the right area. Then, a ground cross sent from near the goal line hit Tokunaga's foot and went into the goal. They were equalized by an own goal.

　However, there was no need to panic. In the 59th and 61st minutes, we faced Fukuoka's counterattacks, but we were helped by the opponent's missed shots and managed to overcome the danger. We continued to attack persistently. Not only Ishikawa and Kawaguchi made breakthroughs, but Tokunaga also overlapped, and Akamine put his body on the line in front of the goal. In the 64th minute, the opponent's defender cleared Tokunaga's right cross. Kawaguchi, who had moved in from the left, volleyed the ball. Akamine changed the direction of the ball with the heel of his right foot and pushed it into the goal, scoring the go-ahead goal!

　In the 66th minute immediately after, Kawaguchi, who received a pass from Lucas, sprinted down the left side. He advanced into the area and took a shot. The floating ball was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper and spilled into the right area, but Ishikawa ran in and trapped it with his chest, unleashing a powerful shot with his right foot! The ball pierced into the upper left corner, quickly giving them a two-goal lead.

　Fukuoka gradually slowed down with one less person, and then Tokyo attacked comfortably. In the 76th minute, Akamine jumped in with his foot from Ishikawa's cross and won a right corner kick. Inohara, who came on as a substitute, scored a high-headed shot from Ishikawa's kicked ball! 20-year-old Inohara also scored his first goal in J League and took the fourth goal.

　In the 79th minute, Abe was substituted for Kajiyama, and in the 86th minute, Baba was substituted for Akamine. In the 89th minute, Baba sent a pass to Abe, who was running on the left side of the front line, and Abe caught up and won a left corner kick. Abe scored a goal with a perfect timing header from Baba's corner kick. Abe, who had fractured his nasal bone in the previous Chiba match and had been guarding it with taping, scored the 5th goal with a courageous dive that didn't show any signs of injury.

　There were times when we lost our rhythm in front of Fukuoka's solid defense, but in the end, we efficiently scored goals from set plays and won by 5 points. Akamine, Ishikawa, and Abe scored goals for the second consecutive game, and it was our first victory at home since the 10th round against Nagoya! Following the Chiba game, we achieved back-to-back wins.

　【Player Comments】《Fujiyama》"After the last match against Chiba, Coach Kuramata kept telling me that 'the next game is important.' If I slacked off during practice scrimmages, I would be replaced, so I have been able to play with a sense of tension and good flow. I haven't had many opportunities until now, but I played with the thought of not wasting the chance given to me. It feels like, 'Finally, my first goal,' but there is another match coming up right away. I will fight in each match to try to move up at least one position." 《Ishikawa》"I am trying to play with quick decision-making, simply choosing between a cross, a breakthrough, or a shot. There are still mistakes in my decisions and plays, but I have a lot of images in my mind. Of course, it is important to play as I should when I need to pass or shoot, but I also think that unexpected plays are necessary. For the goal, Lucas was asking for a pass next to me, but I was able to confirm the position of the goal, so I took the shot. I was able to strike it with good form and relaxation. (Is it two consecutive games with a goal?) I think that being bold in challenging opportunities and being able to run close to the goal has led to my scoring."

　[Summary of Coach Kuramata's Press Conference] "Overall, I think it was a well-played game. In the first half, I wanted to apply pressure a bit earlier, but due to fatigue from playing every two days, we couldn't execute it well and ended up finishing without doing so. In that context, Fujiyama scored a goal for us, allowing us to go into halftime with a 1-0 lead. When the opponent went down to 10 men, I wanted to be a bit more aggressive, but it didn't go as planned. I wanted to apply pressure on both sides of the opponent, but in the second half, we were pushed back and ended up conceding an own goal. The inability to apply pressure was a physical issue. I thought we could do a bit more, but the reality is that we couldn't. However, thanks to Fukuoka's drop in physical condition, we were able to attack from the sides. (Can we continue to play well in the next two games?) Until now, after playing a good game, there has been a lack of focus, not exactly a slump, but something missing in terms of awareness. I strictly warned about that before the match. We talked about trying to replicate what we did in Chiba in this game. As for the upcoming match against Shimizu, I want to review the video and consider our approach. Since we have to play every two days, I want to adjust our condition."

　[Summary of Fukuoka-Kawakatsu Coach's Press Conference] "Recently, we have been conceding goals early in the first half in many matches, so we made adjustments to our defense to prevent the game from breaking down quickly even if we don't score in the first half. However, we had a player sent off, which became a burden given the current state of the team. The players did their best to catch up in the second half. In the second half, we changed the system to 3-4-2, with MF Nakamura and DF Alex in the midfield and gave instructions for marking and covering the sides. We aimed to counterattack while dealing with crosses by marking the center, even if we were somewhat vulnerable on the wings. Despite having many injured players, we will do our best to respond to the support of the fans."