FC Tokyo 1-5 FC Machida Zelvia — a red card, five unanswered goals, and a brutal opening night for a side chasing the title [J1 2026-27 Matchday 1]
2026-08-09
J1 League 2026, Matchday 1: FC Tokyo hosted FC Machida Zelvia, and FC Machida Zelvia won it 5-1.
FC Tokyo announced Yuto Nagatomo's contract renewal minutes before kick-off and led inside five minutes. They finished with ten men and five goals conceded, one of them scored by Takahiro Akimoto on his Machida debut.
Nagatomo's renewal, then a 1-5 — ten-man FC Tokyo overrun at Ajinomoto Stadium
The 2026-27 J1 League season began for FC Tokyo and FC Machida Zelvia at Ajinomoto Stadium, and it ended 5-1 to the visitors. Minutes before kick-off the hosts announced that Yuto Nagatomo, 39, had signed a new contract, and the 36,336 inside the ground were still celebrating when Marcelo Ryan put FC Tokyo ahead after five minutes. It was the last good moment they had. Mitchell Duke equalised on 27 minutes, defender Kento Hashimoto was sent off on 38, and from there Machida simply took the game away: Takahiro Akimoto turned it around in first-half stoppage time, and Yuki Soma, Tete Yengi and Daihachi Okamura added three more after the break. For a club that has set out to win this league, 1-5 is a heavy way to start.
First half — ahead after five, down to ten on 38
Rikizo Matsuhashi set his side up in a 4-4-2. Kim Seung-Gyu started in goal behind a back four of Kento Hashimoto, Hayato Inamura, Alexander Scholz and Sei Muroya, with Kota Tawaratsumida, Takahiro Koh, Kento Hashimoto and Kein Sato across midfield and Marcelo Ryan partnering Motoki Nagakura up front. (FC Tokyo field two players whose names romanise identically: the left-back wears 42, the midfielder 18.) The opening went to plan — Marcelo Ryan finished on five minutes for 1-0 and the stadium was up. Duke levelled it on 27. Then came the moment that decided the match: on 38 minutes the left-back Hashimoto slid in to intercept a pass, caught his opponent around the shin, and was shown a straight red. FC Tokyo had more than fifty minutes still to play with ten men.
Filling the Hayashi-shaped hole — Akimoto marks his Machida debut with the winner
Two minutes into first-half stoppage time, the extra man told. Left wing-back Takahiro Akimoto reacted quickest to a loose ball and turned the game around — his first goal for the club, and the one that won it. Machida had sold Kotaro Hayashi, their first-choice on that flank, to Urawa Reds this summer; the 25-year-old left with 96 J1 appearances and six goals to his name, and it was not an obvious gap to fill. Go Kuroda's answer was Akimoto, signed permanently from Belgian top-flight side OH Leuven. By way of Tochigi SC and Urawa he had moved to Belgium in 2024, and this was his first competitive match back in Japan after two and a half years away. He played the full ninety and scored the goal that mattered. The 28-year-old given the left side of the 3-4-2-1 answered the question on day one.
Second half — Soma's free-kick, then Yengi and Okamura finish it
Eleven against ten looked exactly like eleven against ten. Yuki Soma curled in a free-kick on 51 minutes for 3-1, centre-forward Tete Yengi made it four on 65, and on 80 minutes Daihachi Okamura came up from the middle of the back three to complete the 5-1. All three were their first goals of the season. Neta Lavi and Hiroyuki Mae controlled midfield, Kosei Tani conceded only the fifth-minute goal, and the back three of Gen Shoji, Yuta Nakayama and Okamura gave a ten-man FC Tokyo nothing. Kuroda's team look a long way further down the road than the opening weekend usually allows.
"I want to lift the shield with FC Tokyo" — Nagatomo re-signs, and the title bid starts with this
The news of the day, before all of it, was Nagatomo's new deal. Having become the first Asian player to appear at five World Cups this summer in North America, the 39-year-old decided to carry on and extended his contract with the club, saying he wanted to lift the league shield with FC Tokyo. That is the context that makes the scoreline sting: this is a squad assembled, and a veteran retained, for a genuine title challenge. The red card was hard luck, but the collapse that followed was not — four goals conceded after the 38th minute is a number the team has to own. It is one match of thirty-eight. It is also a debt that a side with FC Tokyo's stated ambition would rather not be carrying.
Next up — FC Tokyo at Kobe, Machida away to Chiba
FC Tokyo travel to Noevir Stadium Kobe on 15 August to face Vissel Kobe, where the questions will be how they reset after this and how they rebuild a back line without the suspended Hashimoto. Machida play the same day at Fukuda Denshi Arena against Chiba. Five goals on the opening weekend is as good a start as they could have asked for, and in Akimoto they have found a new weapon on the left. The numerical advantage flattered the margin, but a performance that made Hayashi's departure look painless is a real return from night one.
Venue: Ajinomoto Stadium
- Location
- Chofu, Tokyo, Japan
- Capacity
- 49,970
The multi-purpose stadium shared by FC Tokyo and Tokyo Verdy. This match drew 36,336.
FC Tokyo
Formation: 4-4-2
- GKKim Seung-Gyu
- LSBKento Hashimoto
- LCBHayato Inamura
- RCBAlexander Scholz
- RSBSei Muroya
- LMFKota Tawaratsumida
- LCMFTakahiro Koh
- RCMFKento Hashimoto
- RMFKein Sato
- LSTMarcelo Ryan
- RSTMotoki Nagakura
FC Tokyo set up in a 4-4-2. Kim Seung-Gyu, Kento Hashimoto, Hayato Inamura and others were named in the starting XI.
FC Machida Zelvia
Formation: 3-4-2-1
- GKKosei Tani
- LCBYuta Nakayama
- CBDaihachi Okamura
- RCBGen Shoji
- LWBTakahiro Akimoto
- LCMNeta Lavi
- RCMHiroyuki Mae
- RWBHotaka Nakamura
- LAMYuki Soma
- RAMMitchell Duke
- CFTete Yengi
FC Machida Zelvia set up in a 3-4-2-1. Kosei Tani, Yuta Nakayama, Daihachi Okamura and others were named in the starting XI.
Match Summary
J1 League Matchday 1: FC Tokyo vs FC Machida Zelvia finished 1-5. FC Tokyo lined up in a 4-4-2.