During the first half, Verdy dominated nearly all of the play. Despite the shoveling, there was still a fresh layer of frost covering the pitch, making control difficult. Still, the Verdy players did as they would on a normal pitch and continued playing passes to feet, patiently trapping the ball before sending it moving again as they evaded the opposition press and pushed into enemy territory. Their efforts paid off in the 11^th minute, when a direct pass from Matheus found its way through the middle to Koki Morita in the free role. The latter managed to hold off pressure from the defense and lay the ball off into space, where Yuta Narawa retrieved it with an overlapping run on the left. As Narawa played the ball behind the back line, Ryoya Yamashita reached it and used his speed to break into space before gently chipping it over the keeper to give Verdy the lead. After the goal, the players continued to manipulate the opposition and retrieve the second ball as they built a long spell of possession. While they were unable to build on their lead, the atmosphere among the squad was a positive one as they entered the half time locker room.

In the second half, momentum swung in the opposite direction as Matsumoto came forward on the attack and Verdy found themselves defending for long periods inside their own third. In the 56^th minute, Verdy were broke down on the left side and the ball was met for a shot in front of goal, forcing a diving save from Matheus. From that point, the team continued to struggle with their buildup play, even as they hung onto their lead with a tough defensive display.  That would end in the 66^th minute, when the players lost possession and allowed an attack deep on their left side that ended with a cross and header that found the net for an equalizer. The manager immediately made personnel changes as the team looked to change the momentum and reclaim their lead. It was Yuhei Sato and Junki Koike who stepped onto the pitch and added an accent as Verdy gradually recovered their share of possession. In the 67^th minute, the team were once again pushed back into their own penalty area and suffered a powerful shot on goal from point blank range, only for Matheus to come to the rescue with a super save. Opportunities for Verdy would finally come in the 87^th  minute when Seiya Baba got his head to a corner kick from the right side and sent it across the face of goal where Junki Koike and Tomohiro Taira tried to tap home. However, the ball just evades their touch. On the last play of the match, the Verdy players would once again carry the ball within range of a finish after a set piece, but they couldn’t find the net and the final whistle soon blew.

On this day, Verdy achieved exactly what they wanted in the first half but suffered when their opponents came forward in the second. Addressing that switch in game plans will be their main task as they prepare for their final match of the season, a home game through in they hope to build momentum for their next campaign with a win.

Your thoughts on the match?
It was an away match in snowy conditions like we’ve never experienced before, so the pitch was difficult to work with at the start. Even so, I really thought the players did a brilliant job of executing exactly the type of football we had planned for and we got exactly the kind of goal that we work toward. I think it was an excellent first half. In the second half, Yamaga pressed us from the front a bit more and in those situations, there will obviously be more space available at the back, but I didn’t see our players make good use of that. That’s the mistake we have to look back on from the second half. I made some substitutions to try and get behind their defense more, which forced their back line to retreat again, and by creating space, I think we were able to gradually reclaim the pace. But what we really have to do is play like we did in the first half, during which we observed our opponents and fought accordingly, for the full 90 minutes. I will work with the players on that sort of game design as we prepare for our final match. Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Verdy fans and supporters who traveled to see us play on away in turf in the midst of all this snowfall. We weren’t able to display our gratitude with a win and I would like to express our regret for that on behalf of the team. Our final match is at home and I want us to prepare so we can deliver the kind of wonderful play that the fans deserve after supporting us all this year.

You made a good start to the first half. What sort of meaning did you assign to this match while talking with the players?
Last night, we held a different type of meeting than usual and had each player speak their feelings about what the match will mean for them one by one. It was quite valuable. I think it was particularly evident in the first half, as the players were highly motivated when they took the pitch. Right now, we’re going through a very difficult period, but I am proud to say that the players approached the match without any loss of passion or intent.

Have the rumors about the club’s financial troubles had any impact in the locker room?
The club has been in constant communication with us, so our stance is to not let what’s being reported in the media have an impact. However, we are of course human, so I’m sure the players can’t help but let it affect them. I think it’s brilliant that they didn’t let it show in their approach to the match today.

You lost possession frequently in the second half. Can you explain the reason for that?
The biggest reason is that we didn’t observe our opponents. It’s very important that we assess the way the opposition is playing and make the right decisions. Our objective is to play our game for the full 90 minutes and on those terms, we were definitely successful today in about 70 percent of what we did, but I still have a lot of work to do with the players to get us that extra 20 or 30 percent that will take us to 100.