Aiming for advancement to the top with the momentum of Nabisco!

　Sec. 25 of the league, Kyoto Sanga F.C. played away. In the Nabisco Cup match against Shimizu on 9/6, the team demonstrated a strong collective consciousness and won with Tokyo-style soccer, securing their spot in the final. On the other hand, Cabore's transfer to Qatar has been decided. Coach Jofuku said, "We need to turn negatives into positives as a team," and while continuing the momentum from the Nabisco Cup, we want to cover it with unity and solidarity.

　Kyoto, who will face us, is currently in 10th place. Since the 24th round on 8/30, there has been a two-week interval. Although Korean representative DF Lee was absent, they have carefully prepared for this round. The defensive line is centered around DF Lee, with DF Mizumoto and Masushima, and they have players who excel in height and individual strength. Today, the biggest point is how we can break through this solid defense. We want to bypass the press from Kyoto's front line, take control in the midfield, and create as many chances as possible.

　Tokyo, Japan's representative Nagatomo and Konno return to the starting lineup in good health. Akamine will replace Cabore. Akamine said, "I have been playing with Aita for a long time, so I know his strengths well. I want to make the most of Aita's ball retention and height, and also demonstrate my own strengths, bringing out the best in each other." The defense has also been stable, maintaining concentration, so we want to suppress the opponent's attacks with coordinated defense, bring the game to Tokyo's pace, and fight patiently without rushing.

　The match record against Kyoto has ended in a draw for the past 3 games, but Coach Jofuku explains his aim, saying, "Kyoto is skilled at neutralizing the opponent's strengths and changing their tactics and system according to the situation. Therefore, we also need to have several options and mental preparation." At the same time, in previous matches, we were confused by the opponent's changes in the late stages and became chaotic, so it is necessary to calmly read the flow of the game. Stay calm and adapt to the changing situation, and strive for a foothold in advancing to the top! The match started at 13:04 with Kyoto's kickoff at the Kagoshima Prefectural Kamoike Athletics Stadium.

Allowing an early goal and being led throughout the game

　Immediately after the start of the match, Kyoto was attacked from a free kick. Left MF Kakuta advanced into the center of the area, and then FW Diego advanced by avoiding Bruno QUADROS. He scored a shot to the lower left and conceded a goal... Lacking concentration, they allowed the opening goal. After that, Tokyo switched their mindset and started attacking by connecting passes as usual. In the 8th minute, Akamine on the left side deployed to Hirayama in the center from Kajiyama's vertical pass. Hirayama dribbled past the opponent's DF and almost broke through in front of the goal, but the DF tripped him up at the last moment, resulting in a corner kick.

　At 15 minutes, Imakano forcefully cut the ball in the opponent's territory. He connected with Hayashi and Ishikawa through a direct pass in the center, and tried to send a pass to Akamine who was attacking in front of the goal, but it was intercepted. At 21 minutes, Hayashi ran to the far post after Ishikawa's right cross and headed the ball back, but it narrowly missed Hiraoka. At 25 minutes, Hayashi advanced to the left front line with speed from Kajiyama's long feed in the center, and delivered a sharp cross. Akamine perfectly timed his header, but it went just wide of the goal...

　Against opponents who were completely defensive, we attacked but lacked precision in the final play, failing to create any decisive chances. However, in the heat, with 10 minutes remaining, we finally found ourselves in a decisive situation in front of the goal. In the 34th minute, Hirayama received the ball from Imano and passed it to Ishikawa in the left area. He entered the left area and took a powerful left-footed shot, grazing the defender and resulting in a corner kick. In the 38th minute, Akamine on the left passed to Hirayama in the center, who hit the post, and Ishikawa quickly moved in from the left to take a shot. It was a powerful shot, but it hit the crossbar and went out... In the end, we entered the second half with a one-goal deficit.

Despite gaining momentum with Ishikawa's equalizing goal, they conceded a goal on the counterattack and were defeated.

　In the second half, Suzuki was substituted for Akamine as a forward. This sparked movement in the team and the game progressed in Kyoto's territory. In the 53rd minute, Suzuki brought the ball inside from the left side and took a shot. The defender blocked it. Then, in the 60th minute, Hayashi dribbled and attempted to break through the central area. And immediately to the left, Kajiyama was also advancing, but he passed to Ishikawa on the outside. Ishikawa, from the left area, struck a controlled and sharp shot into the net! With Ishikawa's goal, the first since the Kawasaki game on August 1st, the team finally caught up to an equal score.

　Tokyo, riding on momentum, continues to pass the ball to create chances in search of a go-ahead goal. In the 62nd minute, Imakano intercepts the opponent's ball and runs up the field to cross. Suzuki tries to connect in the center but is ruled offside. In particular, Kajiyama demonstrates his presence in the midfield, repeatedly playing vertical passes to the forward line. In the 69th minute, he picks up a loose ball from a right corner kick, enters the right area himself, evades the goalkeeper, and takes a shot from close range, but fails to score.

　In the 85th minute, in the midst of being on the defensive, the ball was stolen in the front line and the opponent's defender cleared it to the midfield. At this point, Yonemoto competed with Kyoto FW Kan, but the ball hit FW Kan and went towards the Tokyo goal. Gonda also came out here, but FW Kan evaded him and scored into the empty goal, resulting in a goal against Tokyo. Tokyo, who wanted to equalize somehow, repeatedly put the ball in front of the goal from set plays, but couldn't score and the game ended. While Tokyo was trying to dominate the ball and score a second goal, they were caught off guard and suffered a defeat. They couldn't start the league with a victory.

　[Player Comment] <Ishikawa> "We equalized and then aimed for one more goal, but it's disappointing that we couldn't secure it there. Before the match, we discussed where to defend and where to look for chances... up until the equalizing moment, things went as planned. Then, I think it was the time to really push for the additional goal, but failing to do so was the cause of our defeat. (Was the goal as you imagined?) Yes. However, I regret not converting the chance in the first half. I think we spent too much time chasing. I wanted to catch up within the first half. The conceded goal isn't about who made the mistake, but a lapse the whole team should not have allowed. While reflecting on that, maybe the equalizing time was a bit late. It's necessary to adjust the game plan according to the situation, but in the end, although we weren't panicking, we lost composure. It felt like Kyoto took control. (Have you regained your form from before the injury?) Rather than going back that far, I aim to evolve beyond my pre-injury state. Today, I scored the equalizer, but I want to pursue the work beyond that. Losing tends to bring the team down, but I want to change that atmosphere as well."

　"Kajiyama" "At first, we couldn't concentrate and conceded a goal in that way. However, even in that situation, we didn't panic and connected with each other, gradually getting into a normal rhythm. In the second half, Tatsuya-san was able to exploit the space behind the defense, and the team's rhythm started to show. There was a feeling that we could turn the game around... (What about the shot in the 69th minute?) The opponent didn't come to mark me too much. There were other chances to shoot besides that moment, and I was thinking of putting it on target instead of aiming near, but it went off target... I wanted to be involved in the goal."

　[Summary of Coach Shirofuku's Press Conference] "It was a game that is hard to describe. I feel sorry for the fans who came from far away. Everyone knew today’s game would be a difficult situation, so I don’t want to make any excuses, nor do I think I should. The team that won was stronger, and I think we were the weaker side. (What was the intention behind bringing in Suzuki from the start of the second half?) We couldn’t pose a threat behind the opponent’s defense, so we brought in a player who could break through behind. Of course, it’s not because Akamine played badly, but in terms of balance, we had to show both the ball at our feet and the runs behind to be a threat. In the first half, although we had possession, we judged that we couldn’t create a threat. Kyoto’s DF line dropped back, but the timing to break behind, including the passer, needs to be much more consciously improved. The moment we won the ball, the opponent’s line wasn’t necessarily dropped, so in that regard, we allowed the opposing DF to drop back too easily. I think both the passer and receiver had some issues since we could only manage that kind of ball movement. (How will you regroup for the next match?) We will carefully reorganize mentally. The fans who came from far away were singing the cup competition song, which is very appreciated and encouraging, but for us, it is somewhat humiliating. The rest of this season is only the cup competition. I think the fans sing that song to encourage us, but as a team, we will work on how to fight the remaining 9 league matches, and next time, we want to make sure they don’t sing only the cup song—we absolutely want to go for all 3 points."

　[Summary of Kyoto Coach Kato's Press Conference] "We ended up holding the home game in Kagoshima, which is also the base of our main sponsor Kyocera, and the hometown of Chairman Inamori. Many people came to support us, including many supporters who traveled a long way from Kyoto. I’m glad we could give a good return to those supporters. In the first half, we scored a goal quite early, and of course leading is a big advantage, but I think the players started to feel the need to be careful. I believe we should have been more aggressive when we had the ball, either by pushing forward or moving the ball faster, but the decisiveness and energy to push forward seemed to diminish a bit. Because of that, FC Tokyo was able to press us at times, but I think it was good that the first half ended 1-0 as it was. In the second half, I had planned to bring on FW Yanagisawa at some point. Since today’s match was played in warmer conditions than usual practice, FW Hayashi worked very hard, but I expected FW Yanagisawa to create time up front, so I brought him on from the start of the second half. During the match, MF Shijikurei suffered an accidental injury, and we were pressed a bit. MF Shijikurei’s presence is very significant, but players are not always in their best condition, so at times like this, the team as a whole needs to reduce its dependence on him and show more resilience. The positioning and balance of FW Kan and MF Nakamura, who came on later, did a good job, and FW Kan scored the winning goal again following the Niigata match. Having a rookie like him score an important goal is a huge boost. I believe this will have a positive influence on other rookies and young players. We have great strength, and to have earned 3 points from FC Tokyo, who advanced to the Nabisco Cup final, is something the players are very satisfied with. However, there are still 9 league matches remaining, so we want to steadily catch up with the top teams and aim to surpass them."