憤怒界限街 [angry boundary street]: Kitchee survive late Lee Man onslaught to maintain perfect start- Lee Man 2 Kitchee 3

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill

Wenweipo

After four and a half years, Kitchee finally won a league game against Lee Man. Goals from Kendy and Kanda just before half time set the platform, before Adrian got off the mark with less than twenty minutes to go. Lee Man rallied, scoring twice in the last ten minutes, but Kitchee held firm for what could prove to be a monumental victory come the end of the season.

Team news

Sportsroad

Bear remained injured, while Tan Chun-lok was suspended after his harsh red card last week. Big name signing Asier Illarramendi continued to watch from the stands as he builds his fitness after his time out of the game. Kitchee made three changes, with Haddow, Lung and Kanda coming in for Lok, Juninho and Mingazow. Cheng Chin-lung captained the side for the first time, despite Law Tsz-chun taking the armband after Lok's sending off last week, and captaining the club on eight previous occasions.

Wang; Law, Riera, Dantas, Beattie; Haddow (Jason 61), Lung (c) (Juninho 61), Martinez; Kendy (Jordan 73), Adrian (Slattery 82), Kanda (Mingazow 73)

Unused subs: Buddle, Tuscany, Chan Shing-chun, Li Siu-hin, Lam Pak-yin

Match highlights

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A very wet day at Mong Kok, but still over 1600 fans were in attendance. Wang had to be alert early to deny Barak Braunshtain and Cy Goddard, before Baffoe's dangerous cross evaded everyone. Martinez went close from a freekick, before controversy arose towards the end of the first half, as poor work on the ball from Kitchee saw Everton break through, being fouled by Riera with no one covering. Arguably Riera was extremely fortunate to avoid a red card first time around, and VAR agreed with the referee which wound up a number of Lee Man players. This sparked Kitchee into life, and with the weather rendering tikitaka ineffective, Kanda played it long to Martinez who had come out to the right hand side. His cross was met by Kendy running into the box late. Minutes later Kitchee doubled their advantage. A Kitchee corner was cleared away, but good recycling of possession from Lung and Beattie teed up Kendy on the left wing, and his right footed cross was headed in by Kanda. Despite the linesman's flag, VAR allowed the goal giving Kitchee a remarkable 2-0 lead.

Scoop

Wang denied Baffoe as the ever-worsening pitch made the second half a complete mess with no chances of note. Adrian Revilla became the third Kitchee player to open their account when he scored after Kitchee's corner was not cleared. Former Kitchee man Poon Pui-hin went close, before Lee Man grabbed two consolation goals. After good work by Everton, William Gaucho's shot was deflected in, and then Poon's cross was inadvertently diverted in by Law for an own goal, and Kitchee fans were tense for the closing stages. Two counter attacks almost saw Mingazow secure the win, but he was denied by Chan Ka-ho twice, and Kitchee held on for a memorable victory.

Fan feedback

HK01

Kitchee rode out the first half storm as Lee Man's attack sought to cause chaos, and began to looked imperious as the first half came to an end. There were some slipups at the end but Kitchee held on, with Calderon's substitutes freshening up the lineup. Kitchee were able to adapt better to the weather conditions, not being afraid to go a bit more direct. Keeping Mingazow and Juninho back until the second half is a welcome change from previous managers who seemed intent (although hamstrung by a lack of options) of burning these players into the ground. Mingazow turns 34 in November, and Juninho 35 in December, and both players are critical to Kitchee's success, so being able to rotate them and reduce their risk of injury and burnout will hopefully pay off long term. A couple of cup games await before a title crunch game with Tai Po in mid-October, which we hope Illarramendi is fit to start for.

What's next and other news

Scmp/Edmond So

North District in the Senior Shield. 6.30pm Sunday 28th September at Tsing Yi. No league games until after the October international break. Teenage centre back Yu Ching-wai has become the latest Kitchee youngster to move temporarily on loan to the lower leagues in Spain, following in the footsteps of Shinichi Chan and Jason Yuen Chun-him. Following this we take on Rangers in the League Cup during the international break (unlimited foreigners allowed) before the crunch league game against Tai Po in October.

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