By any means, win at Ajinomoto!

　Sec. 24 will be a match against Omiya Ardija, played at home. There has been a break of more than 2 weeks since the previous match, but we aim for a consecutive victory following the Kashiwa match. Especially in the league, we have not won at home Ajinomoto Stadium since the Oita match on April 29th, so we must obtain 3 points by any means necessary. We have now completed 2/3 of the league, and from here on, it will be an important match in terms of keeping up with the top teams in the final stage.

　During the break, the World Cup qualifiers for the Japan national team were held. Nagatomo and Imano participated and both prepared their condition, and today they are starting. On the other hand, Sasaki is suspended due to accumulated warnings, so Imano is in the center back position, Asari is in the defensive midfield, Nagatomo is on the right side back, and Tokunaga, who has recovered from injury, is on the left side. In addition, Suzuki Tatsuya, who joined during the break, also made his first appearance in the squad.

　Omiya is currently in 9th place, just 1 point behind Tokyo. They suffered 4 consecutive losses in July, but in the last 5 matches, they have shown strength by winning 3, drawing 1, and losing 1, decisively winning matches through solid defense and set plays. In the away match of the first half, they allowed Omiya to dominate but managed to score 3 goals with clever counterattacks, achieving a comfortable victory. However, Omiya's defensive strength is high, making them a 'difficult opponent.' How to break through that solid defense will be a major point. Additionally, Omiya's MF Fujimoto is suspended, but the goal-scoring FW Denis Marquez has returned to the starting lineup after serving a suspension. They have approached the match with a formation featuring a two-top with the tall FW Rafritch. It seems that the match will be intense, including set plays, but maintaining a compact formation to avoid giving away space will be the key to victory. Ideally, we want to take the lead and shatter Omiya's solid game plan to gain an advantage in the match.

　Furthermore, Tokyo has currently marked a total of 399 goals (with 398 goals conceded) in the J1 League. This record started with TUTO player's goal in the opening match of the 2000 season, and they are just 1 goal away from achieving 400 goals. The match, which attracts attention even to this memorable goal, started at exactly 18:00 with Tokyo's kickoff in the humid Ajinomoto Stadium, amidst the annual Brazil Festival.

Allowing a lead from Omiya's favorite formation...

　Tokyo pushed forward at the start. However, in the 13th minute, Omiya's left throw-in was returned by left back Hatodo to MF Saeki, and DF Hatodo broke through the line by avoiding Nagatomo. From there, a cross was lifted and FW Barbaric, who was left free in the far area, headed the ball in forcefully. Despite being cautious, Omiya allowed Tokyo to bring the game into their favored style and conceded the first goal.

　However, without panicking, they launched a counterattack with quick attacks to make use of Cabore. In the 21st minute, Cabore cut inside from the left side to the area and boldly aimed for a goal from an angleless position, winning a corner kick. The left corner kick taken by Tokunaga was initially cleared, but Asari connected the loose ball inside the area and passed it to Imano, but the shot was not cleanly hit. In the 24th minute, they gave Omiya a chance for a free kick, and a shot was taken by the left area defender Tomita from the loose ball dropped in the front line. It was a dangerous scene, but it missed to the right and avoided a crisis.

　28 minutes, Kajiyama connects on the left side and Tokunaga crosses. The ball passes perfectly to Cabore just before the goal area, and he heads it! It was a decisive shot, but it was saved by the one-handed fine save of the Omiya GK and turned into a corner kick. In the 34th minute, the whole team quickly advances, Hayashi -> Emerson floats a pass into the area. Cabore runs smoothly into the area and takes a decisive shot, but it hits the crossbar...

　Unable to score a chance, the attack and defense continued to go back and forth, but in the 36th minute, FW Dennis Marques' shot from the right area after a quick attack by Omiya was saved by Shioda and resulted in a corner kick. From this corner kick, MF Kobayashi on the right and DF Tomita on the left were wide open, but somehow Nakano in the center managed to avoid the corner kick and prevent an additional goal. They went into the second half trailing by one point.

Akamine scores 2 goals, and Otake's free kick leads to 3 second-half goals for a come-from-behind victory!

　In the second half, Ishikawa was substituted for Emerson. Ishikawa, who utilized his energy and speed well, became a good starting point and grasped the rhythm. In the 50th minute, Ishikawa broke through the right side and delivered a cross with shooting potential. The opponent's GK made a save, and from the rebound, Akamine and Kajiyama took consecutive decisive shots from close range, but all of them were blocked by the GK's excellent play... In the 54th minute, Otake was substituted for Hayu, who had injured his foot. In the 59th minute, from Otake's dribble, he connected with Akamine, who ran to the left area, and played a floating last pass to the center. Ishikawa jumped in from the right, but was caught by the GK a step ahead.

　In the 64th minute, Imakawa, who was left attacking from a set play from Ishikawa's cross, headed the ball and Kabore chased after it, earning a corner kick. Ishikawa took the corner kick from the right, and Akamine scored with a header! They equalized the score and also achieved Tokyo's 400th goal in J1. In the 70th minute, Ishikawa, who pressed the opponent's defender, received a foul while trying to switch to an attack and earned a free kick. Kajiyama's kick was initially blocked by the wall of defenders, but they got another free kick due to a handball violation. In the 72nd minute, Otake, who came on as a substitute, aimed directly from just outside the penalty arc on the left, and the ball curved into the right net! They successfully turned the game around with a brilliant free kick!

　In the 74th minute immediately after, Suzuki Tatsuya, who made his first appearance after transferring, replaced Kabore. In the 80th minute, Suzuki Tatsuya broke through the left side using his speed. He sent a strong and fast cross, and Ishikawa jumped in the center. Akamine closed in with a sliding tackle on the far side, creating a decisive opportunity, but Akamine couldn't finish and the ball went well wide of the goal. In the 75th minute, Omiya also made a substitution, replacing MF Kanazawa with FW Sakurai, and aimed to counterattack by increasing the number of players in the front line. However, in the 83rd minute, the shot from MF Kataoka, who ran into the left area from Omiya's right SB Murayama's early cross, was saved by Shioda! In the 86th minute, Omiya's left MF Kobayashi quickly turned around and shot at the goal in front of FW Rafferty, but it went over the bar.

　There were moments when Omiya's FW Rafuricchi was targeted and attacked, but we persevered and turned the tables, launching speedy attacks from both sides. In the 89th minute, we quickly counterattacked from a goal kick, with Ishikawa catching up to Nagatomo's pass to the front line and making a final pass to the center. Akamine pushed it in, scoring the third goal! With Akamine's two goals and Otake's free kick, we secured three goals in the second half and defeated Omiya, leaving them behind and achieving a consecutive victory. We also earned 3 points at Ajinomoto Stadium for the first time since the 9th round against Oita in the league.

　【Player Comments】《Akamine》"The first goal came from a good ball from Ishikawa. I timed my run well and was able to score. The third goal was also set up well by Ishikawa, and I just had to push it into the goal. We allowed a lead in the first half today, but we all talked about staying calm. At halftime, we confirmed that we needed to press from the front... and aimed to continue playing our style of football. We scored two goals from set pieces today, but they were the result of building our own style of play. In that sense, it gives us confidence. We hadn't been able to win at home for a while, so I'm genuinely happy with the victory, and I want to keep winning at home to accumulate points and aim for the top. I want to work hard to capitalize on chances and score more." 《Ishikawa》"We started the match well, but after conceding the first goal, I noticed a bit of passiveness. What I can do is to take bold actions, like making daring runs. In that sense, I think I was able to give the team a good rhythm. Even when the flow is not good or when the team is in good shape but not finding a good rhythm, I believe that making an effort and putting my body on the line can change the flow with just one play. I was conscious of that. As a result, it led to goals and chances, so it was a learning experience for me."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "I apologize for not being able to win at Ajinomoto and for making the fans feel frustrated for so long, but today we were able to clear that up. The players maintained their roles and their style of football under pressure, and it was good that we were able to win because of that. In the early stages, we calmly moved the ball and created our own chances, but our response to Omiya's crosses was not good. Nagatomo was handling it, and the players inside were a bit careless thinking the cross wouldn't come... We conceded a goal from a good cross and panicked a little. Cabore's positioning and Emerson were also a bit rushed in the process of playing the football we aimed for. I think the last 15-20 minutes of the first half were not as good as the beginning of the match. However, as we headed into the second half, we made sure not to lose sight of what we wanted to do and tried to connect rather than just kick the ball. We confirmed that if we continued to believe in that, we would eventually score, and sent the players back onto the pitch. As a result, it was very good that we were able to turn the game around. (Were we being contained on the sides?) Perhaps because Cabore was quite wide today, Omiya set up wider than expected. Omiya plays zone defense, so they crowd the ball side, leaving the opposite side open. We thought that if we could hold the ball well, the full-backs could overlap... but they were able to contain that. However, if we were contained on the sides, we tried to connect using the space in the middle. I told the players to assess where the space was and enter the game, and they did a good job of assessing and trying to connect in the middle. Still, I have some regrets that we could have connected more and carried the ball to the attacking third in 1-2 touches. Even so, I think we saw efforts from the defenders to actively receive the ball from the goalkeeper and to minimize loose balls, even in tough times."

　[Summary of Omiya Higuchi's press conference] "In the previous match, we suffered a frustrating defeat with a score of 0-3, which felt like self-destruction. We wanted to take revenge somehow, but unfortunately, we ended up losing. We had a hard time winning second balls, and our defense had to stay on for a long time. That was one problem. At the same time, I think not being able to possess the ball well was also a factor that prevented us from playing well. In the end, we couldn't fully demonstrate our strengths and felt frustrated. Along with that, I felt that there are many things that the team needs to do in the remaining 10 matches. We will do our best to grow as a team while fighting each game carefully."