Kitchee back on their high horse as the Bluewaves canter to victory against Hong Kong Pegasus

Kitchee back on their high horse as the Bluewaves canter to victory against Hong Kong Pegasus

Anthony Lam and Charlie Markillie for Angry Boundary Street

Kitchee bounced back following some recent disappointing results to record a resounding 3-0 league win against Hong Kong Pegasus. Prior to this match, the flying horsemen had the best goal-scoring record in the Premier League this season (notching 20 goals in just 6 games) but Kitchee’s backline tightened the reigns and managed a clean sheet for just the second time this season – their first since the opening day victory against Lee Man.

The match sees Kitchee move up to 4^th in the table and only 3 points off top.  With just 2 matches left in the first half of the season, Kitchee will hope to continue to improve and close the gap on the leaders. Whilst we don’t want to get too carried away, If Kitchee can finally find their rhythm and get within touching distance then fans will start believing that a repeat of the 2016 season may be possible.  Come on Kitchee!

How did they line up?

Kitchee Instagram

With the Kitchee injury list growing longer and longer (Vadocz, Bong, Jordi and Robert new additions following the match against Southern in the Cup), Alex Chu had limited options when naming his match day squad.  However, he still made 4 changes from the side that disappointed so greatly against R&F (HK) in the last league outing.

Wang ZP, of course, retained his place in. Tong Kin Man, Nando Recio (recovered from injury), Li Nga Hoi and Dani Cancela made up a four man defence.

Midfield saw the most changes with Ju Ying Zhi coming into the starting 11 after his goal from the bench against Southern and Huang Yang returning from injury. Jared Lum completed the three.  Up front, Fernando and Lucas were joined by Tadic.

On the bench were goalkeeper Guo, Lo Tze, Matt Lam, Vadocz, Nakamura, Barrak and Lung.

How did the match pan out?

The Flying Horsemen raced out of the starting blocks with a high-aggression and high-intensity approach to the game. However, it was Kitchee who eventually carved out the first real golden chance – albeit from a Pegasus mistake.  Ex-Kitchee player Cheung Kwok Ming played the ball back towards his own goal only to gift possession straight to the waiting Lucas.  The big man looked quite surprised at receiving such a generous present and fluffed his lines, putting the ball over the bar with only the Pegasus keeper to beat.

Despite this miss, Kitchee continued to tireless try to break the deadlock. Fernando rocked the bar after 9 minutes and Ju shot wide under pressure from Jack Sealy.  Pegasus too had a number of chances to open the scoring. Awal (ex-South China hitman) ran into the Kitchee box trying to latch on to a pinpoint cross by Major and put the ball just wide.  Jack Sealy also had a good opportunity blocked.

Kitchee official photo

With the game edging towards half time, Kitchee finally managed to notch the goal they deserved.  Lucas picked up a loose corner and ran cooly across the edge of the box, eventually laying the ball off to Recio.  Recio cleverly played a first time chip over the line of Pegasus defenders and found Tadic inside the 6 yard box. With the Fly Horse Keeper coming out to meet him, the Croatian dispatched the ball into the net on the half volley.  A great finish. Kitchee 1-0 after 40 minutes.

Both teams had chances to score prior to the break. Liu Pui Fung shot high, wide and not-so-handsome over the bar and Fernando was denied by a heroic from the Pegasus ‘keeper. So we went in at 1-0. Kitchee had, despite great defensive pressure from Pegasus, largely controlled the first half and left the field regretting that they hadn’t scored more than 1 goal from their amassed 10 shots.

Andrew Ellaby

Kitchee went looking for that second goal following the interval, with Tadic, Lucas and Lum being denied by the Pegasus defence.  Seemingly taking on board some criticism regarding hi substitutions in the game against R&F (HK), Chu made his changes early and by 77 minutes Tadic, Nando and Ju had all been swapped out for Nakamura, Lam and Vadocz.

Lucas very nearly set up Nakamura for the second goal following some excellent work.  The burley Brazilian used his strength to bully the Pegasus defender, picked up the loose ball and played it across to Nakamura.  The adopted HKer however was only able to power his shot straight into the hands of Pegasus keeper.   Pegasus’s Sai Ming seemed to be determined to give Kitchee a goal and played another suicidal back pass, this time straight to Fernando but F7 was unable to tuck the ball away.

However, the decisive second goal did eventually come after 88 minutes.  Dani Cancela played a nice ball up field to Lucas who collected the ball and ran towards the area. Lucas turned inside past Cheung Chi Yung and smashed the ball home into the roof of the Pegasus goal from just inside the 6 yard box, leaving the keeper with no chance. 

Kitchee official photo

Coming into the final furlongs, Kitchee continued to attack and try to increase their lead. The third goal coming deep into injury time following a foul on Fernando by Law Hiu Chung (which resulted in the former HK MVP limping off of the field).  From the free kick, taken by Matt Lam, Jared Lum and Nakamura swapped possession on the edge of the area with the Australian eventually forcing his way into the box.  Lum danced his way across the area before releasing the ball to Vadocz who rocketed a powerful shot into the right lower corner of Pegasus goal. 3-0 Kitchee. 

Thoughts?

A 3-0 win sounds comprehensive but in reality the scoreline should have been much greater.  Kitchee carved out 22 shots on goal with 11 on target so to only score 3 times is disappointing, particularly when you look at some of the chances they missed.  Lucas and Fernando definitely could have scored at least once more each.  In previous seasons this would have a complete rout!

More encouraging was the defensive performance as Kitchee finally kept a clean sheet for only the second league game this season.  However, missing the defensive ability of Vadocz, the team did drop back too far and this left Lucas isolated alone up front.  For the first 30 minutes or so, it looked more like a 4-5-1 than a 4-3-3 formation.  After 30 minutes mark, Chu moved the two strikers up-field, with the change paying off immediately with Lucas and Tadic combining (with Recio as well) for the first goal. 

In the second half, Kitchee played some of their best football of the season.  Playing the ball on the ground and really controlling the game. This is the Kitchee that other teams fear – not long balls. Hopefully this is a sign that we may see some more of last years’ style returning.

All in all, this is a vitally important win for the Bluewaves that sees them move up to 4^th in the table and only 3 points behind R&F (HK) – although, Eastern in second have a game in hand.  It’s important to remember that despite some disappointing results this season, Kitchee have only lost one game and still have the joint best goal-difference in the league.  Once we welcome some players back from injury and start to have a more settled team then I think we should be able to find our rhythm and move up the league.

Next Up: Hoi King (a) Sapling Cup – Sham Shui Po Sports Ground – 16^th December 14:30

Next Premier League game for the Bluewaves is to be held in Mongkok Stadium on December 29, 2018 at 14:30 against Dreams.