Suppressing Nagoya's top two, winning three consecutive league matches!

　Sec. 13 of the league will face Nagoya Grampus Eight at home. In the Yokohama FC match of the Nabisco Cup three days ago, players such as Akamine and Kurisawa, who had started few matches so far, performed well and achieved a come-from-behind victory. They have won three consecutive matches in official games. This round, they will unite as one and aim for a three-game winning streak in the league, which they have not achieved in the past as "Hara Tokyo".

　　Nagoya, on the other hand, is currently in 6th place with 18 points. In the consecutive matches since Golden Week, the team's performance has been declining with 1 win and 4 losses, but all the lost matches were close. In the Levain Cup, many players were replaced, and the team focused on today's league match. Particularly, we should be cautious of the tall forward Bryan LINSSEN and the fast forward Thomas DENG. Marking these two top players tightly and thoroughly covering the defense line are the conditions for victory.

　In addition, Nagoya's midfield is filled with skilled players such as MF Fujita, Honda, who can both connect the ball and launch fast attacks. If we are too cautious of the opponent's two forwards and drop our defensive line, giving space in the midfield, Nagoya will create a rhythm, so it is important to aggressively press from the front and not allow them to play freely.

　Tokyo's starting lineup is based on the members of the 12th section Yokohama F.Marinos match, and similar to the form shown in the late stage of the Nabisco Yokohama FC match, Kajiyama is used as the right MF. Manager Hara said, "I want to have a lot of plays where we go to receive the ball with Fukunishi and then break through from there." Akamine, considering the consecutive matches, started on the bench. Regardless of who plays, they aim to continue playing with momentum and aim for a 3-game winning streak in the league. Unlike yesterday's rain, the sun is shining from the morning, and Ajinomoto Stadium makes you feel the heat of summer. The match started with Tokyo's kickoff at 15:04.

Unable to show dynamism, allowing the opponent to take advantage of the gap in marking and score first

　1 minute into the game, Kajiyama aims for a goal from mid-range. The game started with Tokyo's shot, but Nagoya quickly counterattacks. In the 4th minute, they expand wide from a right throw-in and a decisive pass is made from MF Honda to FW Jonsen via MF Kane who entered the area. Tokyo's DF somehow clears it. In the end, a cross is lifted to MF Kane in the left area, but it flows to the far side and the danger is avoided. In the 6th minute, Fukunishi handles a cross to Nagoya's front line. It gives a free kick from outside the area, slightly to the left. DF Yoneyama's ground shot, which was released as a decoy for MF Honda, is saved by Doi. In the 9th minute, Tokyo picks up Nagoya's clearance and counterattacks. Inoha and Tokunaga connect, and Lucas takes a shot from mid-range. It was a well-aimed shot, but it hits the crossbar and they couldn't take the lead.

　Due to the heat, Tokyo's movement slows down as time passes. There is little movement and support in the front line, and the ball is taken away while connecting in the midfield. At the same time, Nagoya also makes mistakes, and the game goes back and forth. In the 16th minute, from Kajiyama on the right to Lucas in the center. He sends it directly to Wanchope in front of the goal, but the trap is too big and he couldn't finish it. In the 29th minute, they were robbed in their own half and a long through pass was sent to the front line. Nagoya FW Yonsen runs into it, but Fujiyama clears it just before the shot.

　In the midst of exchanging attacks and defenses due to mutual mistakes, in the 31st minute, Kajiyama → Lucas, who had drifted to the right, boldly attempted to break through into the penalty area. However, he was intercepted by the Nagoya DF and faced a counterattack. Nagoya changed the play from the left side of their own half to the center → right. The forward, Sugimoto, on the right front line, dribbled into the open space in the middle and connected with the midfielder, Honda, who had moved up from behind. Tokyo was unable to put pressure on either Sugimoto or Honda, and Inomoto was late in marking Honda, allowing the forward, Yonson, who was completely free inside the penalty area, to receive a through pass. He neatly scored with his left foot. Taking advantage of the gap in the marking, Nagoya took the lead.

　Nagoya, who took the lead, was put at a disadvantage. In the 36th minute, FW Yong-sen was hit by a diving header from FW Sugimoto's left cross. In the 40th minute, MF Honda connected directly with FW Yong-sen and MF Kim in front of the Tokyo goal, and MF Honda, who received the return, forcefully broke through the Tokyo DF's defense and took a shot, but Doi made a save. They didn't allow any additional points, but Tokyo couldn't create any chances afterwards. In the 42nd minute, Lucas ran into the front line with a pass from Wanchope and fell outside the area, but the whistle didn't blow. In the end, they only managed to take 3 shots in the first half and turned around for the second half with a 1-point deficit.

Despite continuing to attack with revisions, they were unable to break through the defense and suffered a defeat with no points.

　In the second half, Iwakawa was substituted for Wanchope as the right midfielder. Lucas played as the forward, and Kajiyama joined the lineup in the center to counterattack. They corrected the issues from the first half and took the initiative in attacking with aggressive movements. In the 51st minute, Rychely boldly made a move in the left area and delivered a final pass in front of the goal. Lucas turned around and took a shot, but the goalkeeper saved it. They earned a corner kick, but couldn't convert it into a finish. In the 53rd minute, Tokunaga fed the ball to Kajiyama, who had run up to the front line, and Lucas at the back took a shot. In the 57th minute, Suzuki Nori competed for Imano's left corner kick, and Ishikawa took a shot.

　While grasping the rhythm, we lacked accuracy in the end and couldn't score. In the 63rd minute, Akamine was substituted for Fukunishi and we aimed for the goal with two forwards. In the 68th minute, Kajiyama directly shot the ball after clearing Ishikawa's right cross, but missed by a wide margin. On the other hand, Nagoya also changed their formation to a 3-back. In the 73rd minute, they substituted MF Katayama for FW Sugimoto, and in the 75th minute, they substituted DF Takeuchi for RMF Kane, strengthening their defense to compete. In the 79th minute, Akamine crossed the ball and Lucas headed for a shot. It created a decisive opportunity, but the goal was not captured.

　In the final stage, Nagoya, who pulled back to a 5-back formation, had Inomata also move up to the front line, and Tokunaga and Suzuki Nori on both sides kept crossing from left and right one after another. However, the shots were blocked by the focused opponent's defenders, and even when they picked up the loose balls, they couldn't hit the target, so scoring a goal seemed distant. In the 89th minute, Akamine skillfully broke through into the area from a free kick on the left side and took a shot, but there was no angle and the goalkeeper made a save. In stoppage time, Inomata took a shot from inside the area, but it was blocked by the Nagoya defenders. Then, connecting with a feed from Doi, Akamine jumped into the area, but the defenders also cleared it. Despite the intense play and attacking, they couldn't break through Nagoya's solid defense. They lost without scoring a goal, and couldn't achieve a 3-game winning streak in the league.

　【Player Comments】《Dohi》"In the first half, we couldn't play the kind of football that attacks from the front. The coach also instructed us to 'go more forward,' but we couldn't push up until Akamine came in. I think we ended up matching the slow rhythm of the opponent. (In this commemorative match of 300 games) I wanted a win, but there will be another match. It's more important for the team to win. In a match like today, even if we draw, if we can accumulate points, I think the team's condition will improve." 《Akamine》"In order to participate, if I don't move, I can't create chances or score goals, so I entered thinking about aiming for goals in coordination with everyone. The coach instructed us to defend from the front and to move into space. Also, Nagoya's defensive midfielders are aggressive, so there is space between them and the defensive line. I thought that if I could receive the ball there, the space behind the defense would open up. I created several chances, but if they don't lead to goals, it doesn't mean anything. If I become more conscious of finishing with shots, we might get corner kicks or even own goals. I want to keep that in mind."

　[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "With only two days in between, both teams felt that their movements were 'heavy' in the first half. We were at home and I had told the players to be aggressive, but the heat had an impact, and while Wanchope has improved his defense, I wanted him to make more runs behind the line. However, he tends to be a slow starter, which caused him to be slow to move. As a result, we couldn't get the ball to the top, and we were only making back passes and sideways passes, which they targeted, making it difficult for us in the early stages. I told Wanchope to 'move a bit more and receive the ball,' but he remained unclear, and the midfielders continued to find it hard to connect with the front. Furthermore, after we conceded a goal in the first half, our defense became a bit lax. At halftime, I brought in Ishikawa and instructed to attack from the sides. Lucas also changed the rhythm with clearer movements, but we couldn't score at that time and were unable to hold on. In such heat, both teams were in a tough situation, but if we can't score, we can't win. There were scenes that could have been penalties, but without scoring, we can't win. I think the balance of our defense improved, so breaking through and scoring will be our challenge moving forward."

　[Summary of the press conference by Nagoya's coach VERGOOSSEN] "We were able to end the first half in a very good shape. The organization in defense was good, and we were able to effectively utilize free players in attack. We made good use of MF Honda and both full-backs, Omori and Abe. However, I think there were also problems. There were many judgment errors, such as when we needed to cross the ball or shoot more quickly, and we lacked precision in the final pass. Another issue in the first half was the wrong choice of shoes. I think many players were slipping. However, the game is not 45 minutes but 90 minutes, so we should have taken more shots and scored more goals to pull ahead in the first half. In the second half, FC Tokyo changed to a two-top formation, so we were afraid of being 2 against 2 at the back line and changed to a 3-5-2. However, I think we were not using the space well. We created chances from counterattacks two or three times but could not score. As a result, we allowed the opponent to attack and gave them chances, making it a very intense game. Since it was a 1-0 situation, FC Tokyo took risks to attack. Instead, space opened up behind, and we could have used that better. In the final stages, FC Tokyo also came with power play, so we had to respond to that. I think the result of the victory had some luck involved. However, FC Tokyo has been in very good form recently, so I am happy to have taken points here. I want to praise the players."