* Not actually a shop

Thursday, April 19, 2012

FC Tokyo 3-0 Beijing

Asian Champions League Group F Matchday 4

Thank god it wasn't his knee again...

Both photos from Tokyo Chunichi Sports
FC Tokyo moved within a point of certain qualification for the A.C.L. Round of 16 after a comprehensive 3-0 drubbing of Chinese Super League side Beijing at Tokyo Stadium on Tuesday night. With Ulsan winning 2-1 in Brisbane, both oursleves and the South Koreans need just a point from the remaining two games to ensure our spots in the one-off-game next stage of the competition.

It was a much-changed Tokyo XI from the loss to Kashima on Saturday, with Hitoshi Shiota replacing the injured Shuichi Gonda in goal, Aria Hasegawa coming in for the suspended Hideto Takahashi (who was due a rest anyway), and Sotan Tanabe, Yohei Otake and Kazuma Watanabe given starts over Tatsuya Yazawa, Naotake Hanyu and Lucas (who all took spots on the bench). This was the first time in this young season that we'd seen Mr. Popovic prepared to rotate, and three unenforced changes among five in all was quite a bold move and an indication he felt fresh ideas were needed on the pitch.

We were somewhat surprised to see Otake start in the hole, with Tanabe on the left, as we'd never really seen Otake given time in that role under the two previous managers, but The Little Maestro was right into the thick of things, and his class on the ball was evident from the opening minutes.

Great header from Kazuma.
Naohiro Ishikawa fired off the first shot of the game, and then in the fifth minute Watanabe signalled his intentions by getting a neat shot away on the turn, unfortunately too close to the Beijing 'keeper. Two minutes later though, those two combined to give us the lead, after Jang Hyun Soo intercepted a Beijing clearance and was fouled about 40 yards from goal. Ishikawa looped in the free kick and Watanabe rose completely unmarked around the penalty spot to power in a header that went in off the right hand post.

An early goal was just what we needed, and Beijing attempted to take the sting out of the game by keeping the ball for much of the next ten minutes, but with our midfield and defence pressing effectively quite high up the pitch they were unable to create any clear chances for their big Brazilian striker Reinaldo.

When we did have the ball we looked to spread it wide, with Otake and Hasegawa spraying passes out to Tanabe and Kosuke Ota on the left, and a little more quality on a couple of ocassions from Tanabe might have seen us extend our lead, but his crosses, and one attempt to play a return ball to Otake, came to nothing.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

FC Tokyo 1-2 Kashima

J1 Matchday 6

The Aji Sta trudge

Photo from Tokyo Chunichi Sports
I'd been putting this off since Saturday, but with the Beijing home game tonight I'd better get it written and out of the way...another frustrating afternoon at Aji Sta, as visitors Kashima returned up to Ibaraki with all three points after a heartbreaking late goal saw them clinch a 2-1 win.

In a game packed with incident we saw goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda stretchered off in the first half after a clash of knees with Kashima striker Shinzo Koroki, two backpasses leading to point-blank indirect free kicks in the second half, and both Kashima goals coming on the counter attack after careless misplayed balls that we only have ourselves to blame for.

Tokyo lined-up as expected with Takuji Yonemoto replacing the suspended Aria Hasegawa in the only change to the XI from the win over Kawasaki, with Jang Hyun Soo continuing at centre half. We were given an early scare when Yuya Osako was almost played-in in the first ten minutes, but while we probed for openings through their compact midfield, the first major incident came just after the twenty minute-mark, when Koroki was released through the middle by an incisive ball from the impressive Yasushi Endo.

Koroki was just first to the ball, but the advancing Gonda made good ground out to the edge of the box and as both players slid in, Gonda gathered but they crashed into each other and our 'keeper came off second best, requiring extensive treatment before the physio gave the dreaded 'X' crossed arms gesture to the bench, meaning Hitoshi Shiota would have to come on in his place.

Not long after coming on, Shiota had to be quick off his line to deny Koroki again, with the ball rebounding to safety off the 'keeper's face. Both chances for Koroki were eerily similar to the one from which Keiji Tamada scored the opening goal in our 3-2 home win over Nagoya, as the centre of our defence was carved open again.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Kawasaki 0-1 FC Tokyo

J1 Matchday 5

GET INNNNNN!!!!!

(Photo from Tokyo Chunichi Sports)
Following our midweek A.C.L. exertions in China, FC Tokyo returned to domestic action on Sunday with a visit to Kawasaki. This 19th league "Tamagawa Classico" was the perfect chance for us to get back on track after the disappointing loss to Hiroshima and keep track with leaders Sendai, who drew at home to Iwata on Saturday.

Mr Popovic made two changes from the loss at Aji Sta the previous Saturday, with Aria Hasegawa returning from suspension to replace Sotan Tanabe, and Jang Hyun Soo coming in for the injured Kenichi Kaga. Kaga went off in the first ten minutes of the draw with Beijing and Jang slotted in effectively, so it was pleasing to see the South Korean handed his first league start here, whereas we all know what Mr Okuma would've done (play Yuhei Tokunaga at centre half).

An excellent crowd of over 20,000 piled into Todoroki, and they saw a first half fairly low on incident that we controlled early on. The hosts came into things more as the half progressed, but there was no sign of the fireworks to come in the second half.

Things got interesting in the 48th minute, when Hasegawa, who had had another game on the fringes of the play, threatened to become the big story after he foolishly lunged in on Kengo Nakamura and was shown his second yellow card of the game. That meant he became the first FC Tokyo player ever to be sent off in consecutive league appearances (this is probably true), and left us a man down for the final 40-odd minutes. Takuji Yonemoto replaced Naotake Hanyu in a tactical switch soon after the sending off, and Yone's energy was to prove important as we looked to restrict the hosts.

Kawasaki naturally saw more of the ball now, and it needed some acrobatics in goal by Shuichi Gonda to keep us on level terms. Despite the best efforts of our back line, with Tokunaga especially impressive, we were fighting a rearguard battle, and we were struggling to keep the ball, with Hideto Takahashi strangely off colour.

As time ticked down it looked like we'd have to settle for a character-building point, but with three minutes left Takahashi belted a long drive goalwards, forcing a fingertip save from Yohei Nishibe. With the away end bouncing, Naohiro Ishikawa waved us into a frenzy as he came over to take the corner, and then curled in a peach of a dead ball that Masato Morishige met perfectly, thumping a header from around the penalty spot into the top corner at the near post to send us absolutely mental. I've never jumped around like that after a Tokyo goal, and though there were some hairy moments from Kawasaki set pieces through SIX MINUTES of stoppage time, we held on for a momentous win, with Mr Popovic coming over to give the sha-sha-shaaa's a go.

We stayed third after the weekend then, and welcome Kashima to Aji Sta this Saturday lunchtime.

On the Gas Man of the Match: Shuichi Gonda

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

FC Tokyo 0-1 Hiroshima

J1 Matchday 4

Didn't quite work out, but I liked the idea.
Considering the terrible weather conditions, a reasonable crowd of over 16,000 rolled up to Aji Sta on Saturday afternoon to see unbeaten FC Tokyo take on Hiroshima. Unfortunately for Gasmen supporters, the performance of the players somewhat matched the weather, as we slipped to our first defeat of the season courtesy of a goal from Hiroshima talisman Hisato Sato.

Mr Popovic sprung a bit of a surprise at the selection table, calling on Sotan Tanabe to replace the suspended Aria Hasegawa, while Tatsuya Yazawa was recalled with captain Yohei Kajiyama missing due to injury. I had seen Tanabe tried in the central role during a 3/4-sized pitch training game at Kodaira on Wednesday, and to be frank he had struggled to impose himself there, but it was a somewhat positive move considering his other option was the defensive-minded Takuji Yonemoto.

Hiroshima set up with their typical three back formation, but it became apparent in the opening minutes that their back three was actually a back five when Tokyo had the ball, and they set up to clog the midfield and force us to pass through them. If Naohiro Ishikawa's goal on the counter against Kobe gave us flashbacks to '09, then this Hiroshima gameplan had us casting our minds back in horror to '10, when visiting teams followed The Blueprint On How To Play FC Tokyo Away(TM) all season, and our failure to counter it played a large role in our eventual relegation.

But this is a new era under a new manager, and we trusted in the players to find a way through the visitors, and it was left up to Masato Morishige to try to dictate play from the back, with Hiroshima content to sit deep and look to hit us on the break. They fashioned the best chances in the opening half hour too, as Shuichi Gonda's goal led a charmed life, two narrow misses giving us a warning that we had to be on guard at the back.

Tanabe was busy but couldn't find a way through, Lucas and Naotake Hanyu looked to stretch Hiroshima's defence but their sheer weight of numbers back there meant that our best hope was getting the ball wide, though while Yuhei Tokunaga was able to create openings for crosses on the right, Kosuke Ota struggled to impose himself and the ball always seemed to stop when it came to him.