I want to finish the last battle with a victory at home

　Sec. 11 will be held at Ajinomoto Stadium, where Kyoto Sanga F.C. will compete. In the previous match, they fought evenly against Hiroshima but ended up with their first goalless match of the season, dropping back to 15th place. In this match, they want to take control of the game at home and score by any means necessary. It will be a crucial match that they want to end the Golden Week's 5 consecutive matches with a victory.

　However, as the team's fatigue reaches its peak, in the three days of practice since the previous match, Coach Hiroshi JOFUKU explained his aim as focusing on the minimum things that should be confirmed within the limited time. Taking into account Kyoto's set plays, power play countermeasures, and how to play according to the game's development, they conducted focused training.

　Kyoto, on the other hand, is currently in 12th place with 12 points. It will be a match between two teams with 4 wins and 6 losses, and no draws, just like Tokyo. However, Kyoto is a team that can adapt its playing style according to the opponent. At the same time, the attacking power of FW Diego and Paulinho in the front line is also a threat. If they receive the ball, the players around them will move quickly and create a rhythm in the attack. In addition, their defenders are tall, so simply crossing the ball will be repelled. They would like to bring the match into a speed battle and exploit the spaces.

　Tokyo, Hirayama started for the first time since the Nabisco Kashiwa match on March 25th and faced the game with a formation that paired with Akamine as a two-top. Under the sunny weather where you can feel the heat, the match started with Tokyo's kickoff at 14:04.

Hirayama starts from the front line! Overwhelmed Kyoto by grasping the rhythm, but...

　In the 5th minute, Kyoto FW Paulinho's left cross is connected by FW Diego, and MF Sato, who entered the area, drops it. From there, FW Hayashi takes a volley shot. However, this shot misses the goal, and after that, Tokyo takes control and overwhelms Kyoto. Hirayama becomes a good starting point on the front line and boldly attacks from the movements of Ishikawa and Hanyu, who exploit the spaces. In the 12th minute, Ishikawa breaks through the right side with a sharp movement and sends a ground cross to the center. However, it is cut off by the Kyoto DF just before reaching Hirayama and becomes a corner kick. Ishikawa takes this corner kick and Hirayama heads the ball with perfect timing, but it narrowly misses the goal.

　15 minutes, Nagatomo, who attacked the left side from Akamine, ran past Kyoto DF Mashima and rushed into the left area. However, the shot crossed the goal just one step away. In the 30th minute, Ishikawa, who received a vertical pass from Yonemoto in the center, turned around and aimed for a loop, but it also went to the upper left. In the 31st minute, Kajiyama → Ishikawa cut back the DF and sent a cross with his left foot, which Hirayama scored. From the resulting CK, Hirayama released a free header. In the following 33 minutes, this time Hirayama made a move in the center and passed to Akamine on the right side. Akamine tried to trap the ball and aim for the goal, but...

　In the 35th minute, Hirayama started on the left side and Hayabusa ran inside and entered the area. He shot the ball with speed, but it grazed the opponent's goalkeeper and hit the right post... In the 38th minute, Ishikawa created many scoring opportunities by running into the right area from the side and crossing with Tokunaga. He swung his left foot... and took 12 shots in the first half alone, but couldn't score. They focused on defense and didn't give Kyoto any real chances, and the first half ended with a 0-0 score.

2 consecutive games without scoring, ending in the first draw of the season

　The pace of Tokyo did not change in the second half. Kyoto also tried to counterattack with FW Diego at the center, but Konno and Bruno QUADROS consistently snuffed out the threat and connected it to their own attack. However, the time continues without being able to decide on a chance. In the 59th minute, Ohata was substituted for Hayashi. In the 63rd minute, Ohata bypassed the attacking line and made a fine pass near the area, but in the end, it was cut off and Kyoto suffered a counterattack. However, Kyoto FW Diego's last pass was cut off by Konno.

　Kyoto strengthened their defense by substituting DF Nakatani for MF Hayashi in the 62nd minute. On the other hand, Tokyo made a substitution in the 67th minute, with Suzuki replacing Akamine. Immediately after, Suzuki made a breakthrough by moving around the right area and crossed from a deep position! Hirayama made a perfect header, but... he couldn't find the target. In the 70th minute, Ishikawa sprinted up the left side, outmuscling the opponent's DF, and connected with Hirayama in the center. Hirayama pretended to shoot inside the area and passed it inside, but it was blocked by the opponent's DF...

　In the 72nd minute, Suzuki launched a quick attack and made a fierce dribble. The shot he took after skillfully cutting back the opponent's DF near the left area was saved in the lower left corner of the goal. In the 74th minute, Kondo was substituted for Ishikawa. Despite aggressively attacking with player substitutions, as the remaining time decreased, impatience seemed to arise and they were often penalized for fouls during their attacks, which did not lead to decisive chances. In the 85th minute, from the FK obtained after Kondo was fouled near the left area, Otake -> Suzuki -> Otake threw the ball into the front line, but it did not reach Hirayama and was cleared by the Kyoto DF.

　Kyoto's counterattack safely shut out with Inomata and Bruno QUADROS at the center, but Tokyo shot 19 shots (7 in the second half) against Kyoto's 9 shots, but "1 point" was far away.... It was the first draw of the season with no goals in two consecutive games, and only gained 1 point at home. The results of the 5 consecutive games during the Golden Week period were 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses.

　【Player Comments】《Hirayama》"I think we were able to create chances with our style of football. We were able to move the ball around, and I believe we played the football we wanted to. All that was left was to finish. There is a significant point of reflection there. There was no optimistic atmosphere (that we could score someday), and I thought I needed to come up with something more in the final moments. Still, there were moments when we had many players in attack but ended up taking easy shots, and I, too, should have looked at the situation a bit more and made calmer decisions..." 《Kondo》"It's disappointing that we didn't score, and I'm frustrated that we couldn't win. On the defensive side, keeping a clean sheet has given us confidence. We had conceded a lot of goals until now, so I want to continue having as many clean sheet matches as possible. To score, we are challenging various things like short corners and movements from the sides, and we are also getting ideas from the coach. We have gone two matches without scoring, but in the future, when we can break down the opponent, it should surely be a joy. I think it's important to keep trying with this aim."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "Considering the current situation of the team and the fact that we are not meeting the expectations of the fans, the players approached today's match with a strong mindset. As a result, I have the impression that we lost 2 points, which is very frustrating. Everyone worked hard and increased our chances, but when we can't score, the defense often struggles to hold on. In that regard, we showed good patience today. We did well to endure the situations where the opponent was attacking, including the loose balls. However, it is disappointing to end without scoring, and we must have a sense of urgency about this issue. If this difficult situation continues, the defense will not hold up. To secure 3 points, finishing is crucial. We cannot just wait for someone else to do it; we must continue to do it ourselves. (How to improve the final accuracy?) Until now, we have been getting stuck just before the finish, but today we made half a step forward. From there, we need to not just drop the ball but also look forward, change our decisions at critical moments, and improve the accuracy of our final touch. Of course, mindset is important. It cannot all be resolved with just feelings, but rather than waiting for someone else to do it, each individual must approach it with a strong awareness. I believe there is no need to look down on our efforts to patiently connect and create chances."

　[Kyoto Coach Kato's Press Conference Summary] "From the start, I felt that the players were a bit sluggish and slow to react. It wasn't so much about the sharpness of our players, but rather that the opponent's movements and the decisive moments at the ball were better executed by Tokyo, which put us under pressure. Especially in defense, when the ball was played to players Hirayama and Akamine, our center-backs allowed them to face forward too easily. This gave them time to move to the sides from the second line. Along with not moving well, there were parts where we were on the back foot. However, we held on well in the first half. Since we needed to adjust our positioning, it was good that we ended the first half without conceding. In the second half, I instructed right-back Masushima to move a bit more inside, and I told midfielder Watanabe to return to the side-back position to close down space. Also, since Ishikawa was quite wide on the right, I talked to left-back Kakuta about taking a route to press Ishikawa a bit earlier. Today, we made sure to create a solid block and, when we regained possession, to quickly utilize FW PAULINHO's speed. Basically, I wanted to launch counters starting from FW Diego and FW PAULINHO. However, FW PAULINHO's speed was well matched by player Konno. I wanted to exploit the moment when both Tokyo's full-backs pushed up and it turned into a two-back situation, but even when FW PAULINHO faced forward to challenge, player Konno managed to contain him well. The match ended 0-0, but considering it was an away game, I think the players did well to earn a point from Tokyo."