Covering Baba and Kajiyama's absence, securing victory at Away Kokuritsu!

　After a two-week interval, the league's Sec. 25 match will be against Yokohama FC. Despite being an away game, they will enter the Japan National Stadium. During the break, the Japanese national team went on a European tour, and the Olympic team participated in the final qualifiers, playing matches in a challenging environment. Imano returned to Japan on the 13th (Thu). Concerns about fatigue arise, and the time he joined the team is only one day ago. On the other hand, Kajiyama suffered a left knee fracture, which will force him to be out of action for a long period, in addition to Baba.

　Coach Hara said, "I had already anticipated the absence of the Olympic representative. Therefore, we have been preparing for it." However, in the last few matches, the double pivot with Imano has been functioning well and has been a driving force for victory, so it will be a big blow. However, the players unanimously expressed their strong determination, saying, "We want to cover for each other, improve the precision of our soccer that we had achieved before the break, and continue winning." Imano also said, "I feel sorry for Kajiyama. If I don't play with all my energy, it won't be good for him." He will start with full determination, forming a double pivot with Fukunishi. In addition, Inoha and Hirayama will be on the bench.

　Yokohama FC, who is currently in last place with 11 points, is aiming to turn things around. In the second half of the season, they have acquired MF Obomsawin, Marco Paulo, and FW Katatau in August, as well as MF Atsuhiro Miura. They have also welcomed new coach Julio Leal. Although they struggled against Yokohama FC's counterattacks in the first half and the Levain Cup, the team has changed since then and is now aiming to break through with a passing style of play.

　In response to this, Tokyo wants to apply an early press, take the ball, and dominate the midfield. They want to press Yokohama FC's defensive midfielders Yamaguchi and Marcos Paulo, and prevent them from connecting with the attacking midfielders Ogomosu and Uchida, who serve as the starting point of the attack. Fukunishi and Kurizawa will maintain balance and quickly transition to the attack. They have been focusing on attacking from the wings during the break period, aiming to unsettle Yokohama FC's defense. Lucas and Akamine, the two forwards, will play in positions close to the goal and aim to score. Tokyo will play as a united team and aim for their first three consecutive wins of the season, which they have not achieved yet!

　National, where the scorching heat of the daytime subsided and the wind started blowing. The away end of Tokyo was packed with fans. The match started with Yokohama FC's kickoff at 19:04.

Fukunishi scores the opening goal, not giving Yokohama FC a chance!

The start of the game saw Yokohama FC connecting passes and taking control of the midfield. However, they were unable to threaten the goal and gradually started to counterattack. In the 9th minute, Akamine received a long feed from Kanazawa in the front line and connected with Lucas in the center, Ishikawa on the right, and Tokunaga who moved up on the outside. Akamine returned Tokunaga's cross behind him, and Fukunishi, who had moved up in front of the goal, took a shot. They quickly created an attacking opportunity, but the shot missed to the left. In the 15th minute, they created chances from corner kicks and free kicks, but they were unable to take decisive shots and failed to fully grasp the rhythm of the game.

　Still, without giving Yokohama FC a chance, in the 21st minute, Kurizawa dribbled and cut into the front of the goal, passing it to Lucas behind. However, Lucas's shot hit the goalkeeper straight on. In the 23rd minute, from Tokunaga to Lucas on the right front line. Lucas advanced to the sideline and cut back the opponent's defender, sending a negative pass in front of the goal. Akamine tried to finish it but couldn't. Imakano picked up the ball that spilled to the far side, but couldn't make it towards the goal. In the 29th minute, Imakano, Kurizawa, and Akamine passed the ball on the left side, Kurizawa made a big side change to the right. Tokunaga made a breakthrough and Akamine shot with his foot to the minus cross, but it went over the bar.

　Kurisawa and Fukunishi created chances from a side change, but they couldn't finish. However, in the 34th minute, Fukunishi cut off the ball from Yokohama FC in the opponent's territory and immediately passed it to Akamine, who was running forward. Akamine caught up in the deep right area and sent a floating ball with a negative spin in front of the goal. Fukunishi slid in here and stabbed the ball into the net with his left foot. They took the lead by launching a quick attack after a high press.

　Tokyo, who wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, was attacked by Yokohama FC midfielder Marcos Paulo in the 39th minute, allowing him to be free in front of the goal. MF Marcos Paulo evaded the Tokyo DF who came to defend and passed to the right. The right full-back Yamada, who had moved up, was in a shooting position, but Kanazawa blocked it with a sliding tackle. They managed to survive the crisis and went into the second half with a one-goal lead.

Shut out the counterattack and win the third consecutive victory with Hirayama's splendid additional point!

　Although they took the lead by controlling the ball, they couldn't gain momentum in the first half. In the second half, they switched gears and created chances one after another early on. In the 49th minute, Lucas received a pass and sent it to the right flank. Tokunaga, who overlapped, made a fierce dribble and took a free shot from inside the right area. The shot aimed for the corner was blocked by the goalkeeper's quick reaction and bounced off the post. In the 52nd minute, Ishikawa intercepted a pass from Yokohama's DF in the opponent's territory. The ball quickly reached Akamine, creating a decisive opportunity, but the timing of the shot was delayed, allowing the goalkeeper to block it. Just after that, in the 53rd minute, they attacked in front of the Yokohama goal, and Lucas connected the play from a scramble with Akamine, delivering a floating last pass. Fukunishi dove in to shoot, but Yokohama's DF blocked it... They couldn't secure an additional goal.

　In the 55th minute, Yokohama FC connected passes up to the front line, and FW Miura Chizu circled around from the left to the center and took a shot. The ball curved to the right, but this gave Yokohama FC the opportunity to seize the rhythm of counterattack. Tokyo's overall movement began to decrease, and the defensive line became stretched. While Fujiyama firmly held back Yokohama FC's attacks at the final line, desperate long balls also stood out, and time passed. In the 64th minute, Rychely was substituted for Ishikawa on the left, and Kurisawa moved to the right. In the 73rd minute, Inoha replaced Fukunishi.

　However, Yokohama FC also made successive substitutions in the second half, with MF Tamano, MF Atsuhiro Miura, and FW Katatau. With an attacking formation, they took the initiative and launched a counterattack. In the 79th minute, Yokohama FC was awarded a free kick from the left area outside. MF Atsuhiro Miura aimed directly but missed to the upper left. In the 81st minute, Lucas, who received Kurisawa's cross with his back to the goal, turned forward and took a shot but missed the target. In the 82nd minute, Tokyo DF lost possession of the ball, and Yokohama FC's MF Marcos Paulo passed to MF Atsuhiro Miura on the left, who then took a shot at FW Katatau. However, the shot lacked power, and Shioda made a solid catch.

　In the midst of back and forth, in the 85th minute, Hirayama was substituted for Akamine. The strategy was to gather the ball in the front line. This strategy worked and a rhythm was born. In the 88th minute, Rychely intercepted a pass from the Yokohama DF inside the opponent's territory. He advanced fiercely towards the goal, leaving the chasing DF behind, and took a free shot! It was a decisive shot but it missed to the left... However, it seemed like the game would end like this. In injury time, Hirayama stole a loose ball in the midfield, pushed it out with his head from Rychely, and rushed towards the goal. He bypassed one, two opposing DFs, and forcefully slipped through the gap between the DFs who were trying to mark him. Finally, he calmly evaded the GK and took a shot. From a powerful dribble with speed, he scored a splendid additional goal! Immediately after, the game ended. They left Yokohama FC behind in an away game and achieved their first three consecutive wins in the league this season.

　【Player Comments】《Hirayama》"(In the goal scene) I headed the ball forward, and since there was no defender in front, I thought I could go for it myself. Watching from the bench, I noticed that the Yokohama FC goalkeeper was off balance, so I planned to get past him and take a shot. As for my participation, I intended to be proactive and take the initiative." 《Fukunishi》"Today, I focused on being solid at the back and distributing the ball. However, I discussed with Konno about who would take the balance, while trying to move up during opportunities. When the forwards create space or cut deep along the line, I can also move up. The scoring opportunity was a chance I should have taken. If we had scored the second goal earlier, we could have played with more composure and without panic. I regret that I had that opportunity. The challenge is how to pressure the ball. It's about pressuring the opponent and deciding where to win the ball back. I want to discuss and unify our approach for the next match."

　[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "I heard that Yokohama FC has been conducting practice matches during the break and training hard under the new coach. On the other hand, we have been without three Olympic representatives and Japan national team player Konno. Since we couldn't practice with the recently improved combination of Konno and Kajiyama, we reverted Fukunishi back to the defensive midfielder position during that time. The rhythm between Kajiyama and Fukunishi is slightly different, and considering that Yokohama FC is highly motivated, I thought it would be a difficult match. Indeed, we started slowly, and our awareness in defense and attacking movements were also late. There were moments when we seemed to be a step behind the opponent, and I wished we could have moved the ball a bit faster. The movements of Akamine and Lucas also felt heavy. Fukunishi scored a good opening goal, and I thought we could push on from there, but it didn't go as smoothly as we hoped. There was a dangerous moment at the end of the first half, so we talked about fighting more firmly at halftime. If we only consider today's match, we could have substituted Asari for Fukunishi, but since Inoha just returned, I made the decision to include him, considering him as a future asset for the team. In the end, I wanted to create more opportunities further up the pitch, so I brought in Hirayama to gather the ball. I think he felt frustrated being left out of the starting lineup for the Olympic team. However, I'm glad he scored a wonderful goal. The content of today's match was certainly not good, but keeping a clean sheet and earning three points is something that will lead us to the next step. In the coming week, we will all be able to train together, so we will prepare thoroughly and do our best to win against Shimizu. Konno, Inoha, and Hirayama did well to hold on despite the tough conditions. Although it was an away game, it was at National Stadium, and many fans came to support us. We want to carry this victory forward and earn three points at home at Ajinomoto."

　[Yokohama FC - Summary of Coach Julio LEAL's Press Conference] "We recognized that this match was really important. We wanted to win at all costs. We wanted to showcase what we have practiced so far, win, aim for consecutive victories, and start everything from here. We were able to start well at the beginning, but after 15 minutes, the opponent took control of the pace. We were able to launch some good counters, but we lost the ball in midfield and conceded a goal. When we lose the ball in a bad way, it inevitably leads to such results. In the second half, we tried to be a bit more aggressive, but we couldn't initiate attacks from the start. We couldn't execute what we had tried in the practice match well. Substitute MF Tamano couldn't get into the game well and made several passing mistakes. We thought about catching up and then turning the game around, so we brought in MF Atsuhiro MIURA to play more aggressively. He has wonderful passing and shooting skills. However, the opponent became quite defensive from that point and aimed for counterattacks. To become more aggressive from there, we brought in FW CACA to the front line. This created attacking opportunities and we were able to earn a corner kick. However, as the entire team became more aggressive, space opened up at the back, and we started to concede the opponent's preferred counterattacks, ultimately losing the second goal. Since today was a home game, we couldn't remain calm when we allowed the lead. That's why we aimed for victory, but... I believe the players gave their all. They put out all their energy. Although we couldn't win, we will continue to do what we have been doing and think about how we can win, which will lead to results. And I believe that is where the beginning will come from."