You will always see the super plays in the heated match, TAMAGAWA Clásico! But recently KAWASAKI overwhelmed FC Tokyo, KAWASAKI won 4 games in 5 games.
※ FC Tokyo won 2-0 in J League cup last year but not in the League.
And KAWASAKI is currently undefeated (8 wins and 1 draw) and keep running on the top while FC Tokyo struggles to get 3 points(4 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss). What’s more, U-24 Japan national team DF Tsuyoshi WATANABE has been suspended, DFHotaka NAKAMURA got injured in the last game, and FW LEANDRO has been absent since Matchweek5. I was looking forward to seeing how the coach HASEGAWA organized the team while both attacking and defending star players are off.
MVP Akihiro IENAGA | IENAGA showed the strong presence
SAMURAI BLUE squad Ryoya OGAWA didn’t exert a presence. It was hard to find that he went for attack in the first half. IENAGA usually move around left to right or sometimes gets inside, but this time he stayed at the left side. So OGAWA always needed to care about his position. While IENAGA didn’t give OGAWA the chance to score goals, he never missed his big chances. He scored two goals in first 16 mins.
KAWASAKI Frontale brought their 100% from the beginning, especially their press was so intensive. FC TokyoShuto ABE worked on collecting the ball very hard in the central area, but even he got a ball, 2 or 3 KAWASAKI players approached him immediately after they lost the ball. And quickly they started to attack before FC Tokyo was ready for defense.
So it made KAWASAKI keep the ball possession for a long time. As a result, the first goal for KAWASAKI was made by FC TOKYO OKAZAKI’s mistake. He passed the ball to KAWASAKI player JOAO SCHMIDT, and SCHMIDT sent the ball straight to LEANDRO DAMIAO, and DAMIAO deliver the ball to the right side, IENAGA was there and he dived.
The second goal for KAWASAKI was also the gift from FC TOKYO. AOKI passed the ball to MITOMA and he delivered the ball to DAMIAO, and he passed the ball to IENAGA on the right side again. No one approached IENAGA, so he scored the goal easily( That goal was actually very skillful though it looked easy).
FC Tokyo found the little hope from the side attack
Takumi NAKAMURA created the several chances with the cross and it implied how to score the goal. KAWASAKI could concede the goal if FC Tokyo send the good cross behind KAWASAKI’s defender line.
KAWASAKI dominated the side area with number advantage in the first half
However, it was KAWASAKI who use the side area effectively. KURUMAYA who has the high attacking ability and YAMANE who is the Japan national team full-back positioned in FC Tokyo area deeply. That made FC Tokyo defenders paid attention to both central and side area, then their first contact to the ball was always late and failed to have the advantage of numbers.
4. Second Half Review
Feeling that FC Tokyo started to attack | The first goal in the second half
Delivered the long passing from Takumi NAKAMURA to NAGAI who was running to the space behind KAWASAKI defender, and NAGAI sent the cross. Finally ADAILTON scored the goal. It seemed that FC Tokyo found how to break KAWASAKI’s wall.
Additional goals to cut off the momentum of FC Tokyo
But only two minutes later, YAMANE sent high-speed cross to the left side. MITOMA took the ball from Takumi NAKAMURA while he struggled to control the ball, and scored the goal after 1 on1 against GK. And from the set piece in 74 mins, DAMIAO scored the 4th goal for KAWASAKI, and that goal finished the game.
FC Tokyo changed the formation from 4 backs to 3 backs. And TAKAHAGI who is good at controlling the ball came on. Those changes worked out for FC Tokyo. Using the side-change effectively prevented KAWASAKI defenders from deciding who and when approached the ball. It could be the hint for clubs who will play against KAWASAKI later. TAKAHAGI made assist and UCHIDA scored the goal for FC Tokyo, but it was too late.
