A crucial match that cannot be lost in pursuit of the top

　Sec. 16 of the league, we will play against Vissel Kobe away. We achieved two consecutive victories in the previous match against Shimizu, and climbed to our highest position of 7th place this season. Returning to a balanced record of 7 wins, 1 draw, and 7 losses, Coach Hiroshi JOFUKU said, "I absolutely don't want to regress from here. It was a tough start to the season, and it won't mean anything unless we start with a win from here on out." He is looking ahead to a new battle.

　Kobe, on the other hand, has been unable to ride the wave with two consecutive losses while MF Okubo, a representative of Japan, returned from Germany's Wolfsburg. Coach Caio Junior resigned and Masahiro Wada, the team's general manager, took over as the concurrent coach from this round. However, Coach Jofuku strengthens his vigilance, saying, "The more accidents there are, the more they contribute to the team's strength. I think the hurdle to win has increased." MF Okubo, the key player in both offense and defense, MF Botti, and FW Mogi, who has scored 6 goals in the league, are the core players of the team, so it is "difficult to imagine a big change" (Coach Jofuku). Therefore, Kanda emphasized the need to stick to their style and said, "If we just react to the opponent's situation, the game will become even more difficult. It is important to play our own soccer from the start of the game."

　Tokyo will face the same lineup as last week. In particular, Cabore, Hirayama, Ishikawa, and the attacking unit have been in good form. We want to increase the time of ball possession by improving decision-making, technical precision, and coordination, and increase the number of times the attacking unit's weapons are utilized in the attacking third. Hanyu said, "We want to efficiently circulate the ball and enter the dangerous area. The opponent should be uncomfortable when there are many people in dangerous areas." Nagatomo said, "We have gained confidence in our own soccer. If we do it properly, we don't feel like we will lose."

　In June, we won all official matches. The only way to join the top group is to continue riding the momentum. In order to embody the "summer of counterattack," Coach Shirofuku expressed a strong desire to "turn our struggles into results from here on out. I want to approach the matches with a strong determination." We want to secure 3 points even in enemy territory, aiming for victory and chasing the top. The match started at 19:04 with a kickoff in Tokyo at the Homes Stadium Kobe.

Unable to create scoring opportunities, the game ends in a 0-0 draw

　In the early stages, Tokyo was unable to demonstrate its Tokyo-like style and the game progressed. In the 4th minute, Ishikawa aimed for a goal with a free kick from outside the central area. This became the team's first shot. Perhaps due to the influence of the long turf, the ball did not stick to the foot and there were also scenes where it was stolen by the opponent from a pass miss and the defense was chased. Even if the ball was carried to the attacking third, they were unable to create a chance just a step away.

　After 20 minutes, Tokyo gradually begins to find its rhythm. In the 22nd minute, Ishikawa dribbles through the center after stealing the ball from the opponent. He passes to Hirayama, who has moved to the right, and takes a shot, but the opponent's goalkeeper makes a great save, resulting in a corner kick. In the 32nd minute, Kabore on the right side passes to Yonemoto, who overlaps into the area. Kabore receives the return pass and takes a shot, but the Kobe defender throws himself to escape and it becomes a corner kick. From that right corner kick, the ball goes to Kajiyama on the opposite side, who sends a cross, but it is also cleared and becomes a corner kick.

　In the 41st minute, Tokunaga -> Hirayama -> Ishikawa from the counter. He turned around from a difficult position and volleyed with his left foot. However, it was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper's great save and did not result in a goal. In response to the opponent's attack, they defended the goal calmly. The DF team, centered around Imano, cleared FKs and sharp passes from MF Botti to the front line. They also successfully defended against the aggressive attacks of FW Mogi and MF Okubo, and ultimately ended the first half with a score of 0-0.

Ishikawa, Cabore's goal gave us a valuable 3 points away from home.

　The game started moving in the second half. Early in the game, Ishikawa swung the ball well from a long pass from Konno. Although it didn't result in a goal, Tokyo continued to connect the ball in their characteristic style, also incorporating side changes while looking for a goal. Then, in the 50th minute, Uchida received a ball that was connected by Hirayama and Cabore, and passed it to Ishikawa who ran into the center. Ishikawa brought the ball into a tight space with one touch and skillfully controlled the lobbed ball with his left foot for a shot! The ball pierced into the top left corner of the goal, scoring a superb goal to take the lead. With this, Ishikawa has scored in four consecutive matches.

　Tokyo, who has completely regained momentum, launches a wave attack. In the 51st minute, Cabore → Hirayama shoots from a counter. It hits the defender but is connected by Yamamoto, who then takes a shot from the middle but it goes over the crossbar. In the 53rd minute, Hirayama heads away Nagatomo's left throw-in, and Cabore in front of the goal tries to score directly but is blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper. Then in the 55th minute, Hayashi passes through from near the center line. Cabore reacts to it, calmly evades goalkeeper Enomoto who came out, and slots it into the unguarded goal for an additional point.

　Kobe, on the other hand, tries to regain the momentum by making successive substitutions, but Tokyo calmly passes the ball rhythmically and does not give up the initiative. In the 62nd minute, Hayu, in the 67th minute, Nagatomo, and in the 69th minute, Ishikawa each attack the Kobe goal, but thanks to GK Enomoto's excellent save, there is no additional goal. The game ends 2-0 as it is. The final number of shots is 19 for Tokyo against 4 for Kobe. With stable defense and a calm game in the second half, Tokyo wins their third consecutive league match and their fifth consecutive official match, including the Nabisco Cup, and rises to 5th place.

　[Player Comments] {Yonemoto} "I was very nervous because many acquaintances, such as seniors from high school, club teammates, and classmates from middle school, came to watch, but I'm glad we won. Recently, I've been able to exchange passes with Kaji-kun (Kajiyama), and we have developed a good combination. Our trust has deepened, making it much easier to play together. I want to support the team with even better combinations. Right now, Nao-san is in great form, so if we defend well and connect the play, I believe he will score when we get to the goal area. We need to carry the ball well to the front and pass it to the forwards, and from there, we have been able to score in good situations, so I want to continue this flow. As the coach said, I want to make it a 'Summer of Counterattack,' and I believe the supporters also wish for that, so I want to work hard and aim for the top. (Were you conscious of the match against Kobe?) More than the fact that the opponent was Kobe, I was nervous because many acquaintances came to watch (laughs). Kobe came with high motivation, and I think it was a very difficult match. I don't want to be satisfied with today's win; I want to continue accumulating victories."

　Ishikawa: "I wanted to score early in the first half, but the opponent didn't let us do that. It was a difficult start, but I think we were able to fight calmly in the second half with patience. One of the good things about Tokyo recently is that even if we score in the first half or if we concede, we can approach the second half very calmly. That is something we have built up. So there was no sense of urgency at all. (About the goal scene?) First of all, Hanyu-san was watching well, and also, although we had chances from the first half, I was slightly off with my trap, and I wasn't able to trap the ball in a way that connected to my shooting image, so I focused on the trap first. It stopped exactly where I wanted it to, so I just swung through. I knew the opponent was closing in, and there was no space, but I think my judgment on whether to shoot directly or to stop and shoot was good. There were scenes in the first half where it would have been better to shoot directly, so I think it was good that that image suddenly came to mind. (The team has won three consecutive league matches, but?) We finally returned to a balanced state, and I didn't want to go back to the previous stage. Now that we have more time to play our football, we are only thinking about accumulating results. I want to win more and score more. I think the current Tokyo attack has a lot of power. Everyone is able to take action as soon as the ball moves, and we are connecting well from defense. As attackers, we are doing well as a team by moving the ball and effectively taking action to get to the shot. (With today's goal, you are temporarily tied for the top of the scoring ranking?) I'm not really conscious of it, but if my goals can help the team win, that's a good thing. It means that those around me are working hard. I think my goal is a result of that. Personally, after the match, I saw that I had seven shots. I definitely have to score at least one of those. I'm still not satisfied. There were chances in the second half as well. It was good that I scored and contributed to the victory, but there are many points for reflection. I want to make use of those points in the next match. There's still a long way to go."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "It will be the same as last time, but we had a very difficult start in March and April. We managed to bring the points back to even in the last match, Sec. 15, and I conveyed to the players that 'when we bring the points back to even, we should have the ability to win consecutively.' We have been working under that motto. Finally, we have brought the points back to even, and I don't want to stop here, I don't want to go back, and I never want to experience that painful feeling again. I believe the players stood on the pitch with that mindset, and I think it was very good that we were able to achieve results today and celebrate with the fans who have come this far without stopping. (Regarding today's match in terms of controlling the game on both offense and defense?) Strictly speaking, I think control involves both offense and defense, but fundamentally, our time is when we have the ball. With our current skills and judgment, I believe we were able to increase that time today. In the second half, there were scenes where we could have taken shots for about 20 minutes, but I think we could have done more with our skills. In defense, we aimed to make the opponent play the ball in a way that was not to their advantage, but we still allowed too much time for the opponent's holding midfielder to be free, and we need to reflect on the need for stricter defense moving forward."

　[Summary of Coach Wada's Press Conference] "We only had three days until today's match, and we needed to make adjustments as a team, especially in defense. We focused on a zone defense based on last year's 4-4-2 formation as a training objective this week. Most of the players have been with us since last year, so I believe they have absorbed the tactical aspects well. Regarding today's match, I think we managed to respond well, especially in the first half. However, when the long balls to Cabore and Hirayama resulted in loose balls being picked up by the opponent, we created a slightly difficult situation and gave them a chance. We managed to go into halftime at 0-0, and in the second half, we aimed to start strong again. We conceded a goal five minutes into the second half, and if we had been able to maintain the same level of play without panicking, I think we could have held on to a 0-1 scoreline a bit longer. However, after that goal, our defense became disjointed, and we ended up creating situations where we were vulnerable to counterattacks. I also think we struggled to create good attacking opportunities in the second half. I instructed the players this week to push forward once they regained possession, and I believe they showed a strong desire to do so. We were trying to be thorough with our first defender's role in defense, but we became too eager to win the ball back, which led to a lack of coordination and many situations where we showed cracks in the second half. We suddenly changed our tactics, and while the players absorbed that and approached today's match, it would have been better if we had seen results. I think we did our best in the first half against a strong team like FC Tokyo. I hope that the effort we put into those 45 minutes can be sustained for the full 90 minutes, and I look forward to training again next week."