Kitchee see out 2018 by continuing their good recent form and edge closer to the top of the table

Kitchee see out 2018 by continuing their good recent form and edge closer to the top of the table  

Anthony Lam and Charlie Markillie for Angry Boundary Street

Kitchee continued their return to form with a resounding 5-0 league win against Dreams. Prior to this match, the Bluewaves had clocked up another five nothing victory against Hoi King in the Sapling Cup and a 3-1 Senior Shield win against our old rivals Eastern.

The result sees Kitchee move up to 3rd in the table and only 2 points off the top.  With just 1 match 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 keep up this recent form then it might be an exciting second half of the season!  Come on Kitchee!

How did they line up?

Kitchee official photo

With Helio finally back on the bench following a substitute appearance against Hoi King, Kitchee’s mammoth injury list appears to gradually reducing in size.  This meant that Alex Chu had more choices than previously this season when deciding his starting 11. With this is mind, the head coach made 4 changes from last league game against Hong Kong Pegasus with the likes of Wang ZP, Tong Man, Dani and Jared Lum all being rested from the starting 11.

Guo, our capable second custodian, took the spot in between the sticks and found himself with Lo Tze Chun, captain Huang Yang, Nando Recio and  Li Nga Hoi lining up as his defence in front of him.

Midfield saw Vadocz leading the charge in the centre, with Yuto Nakamura on the right and Fernando on the left.  Up front, you saw Lucas took the centre forward position with Ju and Tadic being the left and right wing, respectively.

On the bench were goalkeeper Wang ZP, Dani, Helio, Matt Lam, Robert, Jordi and Bong

How did the match pan out?

Kitchee’s domination of the match started right from the first minute when Lucas was sent through one-on-one with the Dream’s ‘keeper. Unfortunately, the Brazillian failed to convert this early chance and this miss set the tone for large majority of a first half where Ju, Tadic, Nakamura and Vadocz all missed good chances to open the scoring.

Kitchee official photo

Following large amounts of Kitchee pressure, the first goal did eventually come in the 36^th minute following clever play by Ju and Fernando from a short corner.  Fernando eventually whipped a cross into the Dream’s penalty area which was met by the flying Tadic who headed the ball into the net, leaving Dream’s ‘keeper To Chun Kiu with no chance. 

1-0 in front, Kitchee’s game plan was slightly disrupted when Yuto picked up an injury after 42 minutes and was subsequently replaced by Matt Lam. However, the chances kept on coming and Yu and Lucas had further chances to add to the scoreline.  Just as everyone thought the first half would end 1-0, Ju did finally manage to add a second after latching on to a through pass from Vadocz and sliding the ball past the oncoming goalie without hesitation. 2-0 Half time. Despite the relatively modest scoreline, the first half statistics showed what a one sided affair it really was with 6 shots on target and 8 corners for Kitchee with zero of either for Dreams. 

Kitchee official photo

The second half continued to be a one sided affair and Kitchee wasted no time in adding to their two goal lead. Youngster Lo Tze ran down the right flank and flicked past two Dreams defenders before sending a neat cross into the penalty area which this time was  met by the diving header of Lucas. 3-0.

Just a minute later, Fernando had the ball in the net again but was adjudged (correctly) to have been offside.  Kitchee were not deterred and found themselves 4:0 to the good after 58 minutes following great play by Lucas and Tadic who combined to set up Ju for his second goal of the match.

With the match at 4:0, Alex Chu then took the opportunity to rotate his squad and give some much needed match time to Helio and Robert – who came on to replace Nando and Tadic respectively.  It was fantastic to see Helio finally stepping out on the Mong Kok turf again following his cruciate ligament injury which has kept him out of the starting line up since March. 

Kitchee went on searching for more goals and they were rewarded after 77 minutes when Ju set up Lucas helping the Brazilian to score his 8^th goal of the season.  With only 13 minutes left on the clock, Kitchee continued to attack and could have added to the scoreline but saw chances missed through Fernando, Lucas and Matt Lam.

Thoughts?

5 goals and a clean sheet is pretty much as comprehensive a victory as you could hope for but in reality the scoreline should have been much greater against what was a very poor Dreams side.  Kitchee carved out 18 shots on goal with 9 on target and could have scored more had it not been for a combination of poor finishing and some good saves from the Dreams goalkeeper.  

More encouraging was the defensive performance as Kitchee managed to restrict Dreams to just 3 chances all game (none of which were on target) and once again kept a clean sheet.  The return of Helio to action will hopefully see the backline improve even more as we head into the second half of the season.

Perhaps it was the quality of the opposition but the game also saw Kitchee play some of their best football of the season so far.  Playing the ball on the ground and really controlling the game. This is the Kitchee that other teams fear – not the one that resorts to 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 3rd in the table and only 2 points behind Eastern.  It’s important to remember that despite some disappointing results this season, Kitchee have only lost one game and still have best goal-difference and the best goal scoring record 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 keep moving up to our familiar position in the table.

Next Premier League game for the Bluewaves is to be held in Aberdeen Stadium on January 12, 2019 at 14:30 against Southern.