Scrappy win secures another narrow Kitchee win with big name signing watching on- Eastern District 0 Kitchee 1

Credits to Scoop

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill

Kitchee secured a second consecutive 1-0 away win through Leandro Martinez's late penalty. In a game where Kitchee played over an hour with ten men after Tan Chun-lok's early red card. It wasn't pretty but it got the job done.

Credits to Kitchee

Kitchee confirmed the signing of Asier Illarramendi on Wednesday night. The thirty-five year old Spanish midfielder arrives in Hong Kong having been a free agent since the start of 2025. He played almost a hundred times for Real Madrid (winning the Champions League in 2014) and played over two hundred and fifty times for Real Sociedad. He last played for FC Dallas, and has three caps for the Spanish national team, while he also won the under 21 Euros. Unfortunately we did not see him in action on Sunday, as the player was awaiting confirmation on his work permit and getting into good condition after so long out of the game. Chen Ngo-hin moved on loan to Southern, following previous loan spells in 22-23 and 23-24. We wish him the best, whatever the future holds.

Team news

Photo by Scoop

Calderon made three changes to the starting lineup, with Haddow, Lung and Jordan dropping out and Law, Martinez and Juninho coming in. Pong Cheuk-hei (Bear) remains out with a shoulder injury, and unlikely to be back before November, and the aforementioned work permit issues (and conditioning) meant Illarramendi watched on from the stands.

Wang; Law (Jason 45), Riera, Dantas, Beattie (Jordan 65), Lok (c), Mingazow, Martinez (Haddow 88), Juninho (Kanda 65), Kendy (Lung 30), Adrian

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

Match highlights

Photo by Scoop

Martinez went wide early on, as Kitchee dominated the opening exchanges. But this changed in the26th minute, when Wang's poor pass went straight to Sri Lankan international Wazeem Razeek, and Tan Chun-lok fouled him as he neared the box. The referee showed a straight red card, presumably believing Lok to be the last man (despite Riera looking as if he could cover). There was no VAR at this game as HKFA does not possess the infrastructure or personnel to man multiple games at once, meaning Lok was not reprieved. Kendy was sacrificed for Cheng Chin-lung on the half hour mark to give Kitchee another body in midfield. Eastern District went close from the resulting free kick, and grew into the game, with Kitchee fans frustrated at half time.

Photo by Yin

Jason Kam came on for Law Tsz-chun as Kitchee seemed to switch to a lopsided three at the back formation, and a goalmouth scramble at a corner saw Riera go closest to poking Kitchee in front. Adrian missed a sitter where any goalbound touch would've surely found the net. As the game wore on fans got more irate, before Jordan Lam was taken out inside the box while attempting to reach Mingazow's cross in the dying moments. On his first start Leandro Martinez fired the penalty home, and Kitchee had the lead. But more lax defensive passing saw Haddow under pressure, and he passed it straight to former Chinese Super League forward Cesar Lobi Manzoki, who skied a simple chance, and Kitchee got out of jail. Scrappy and tense, but three points is three points.

Debut watch

Yumemi Kanda- decent cameo off the bench trying to get Kitchee going. Probably the most likely foreign player to drop out of the squad in the coming weeks with the recent arrival of Asier Illarramendi.

Fan feedback

Photo by Ultras Bluewave

Lots to work on moving forward, but two wins from two is a good start, especially with two clean sheets. Hopefully the nature of the wins means Kitchee won't get too complacent and recognise the shortcomings. It was a resilient display with ten men where they still had a lot of the ball, but some really careless errors in possession (one leading to the red card, and one should have lead to an equaliser). Calderon was not afraid to make changes, sacrificing Kendy early to balance the midfield (despite much of Kitchee's play coming down the left) and bringing on Jason Kam to switch to a back three. It did seem strange that after a couple of years of seeing Helio get pressed by opposition forwards, Kitchee did not look to exploit this during the game. The red card was harsh and HKFA rules mean while it can be appealed (with VAR not in action at this game), the relevant committee does not meet until after our game with Lee Man next week, so it seems he must serve the ban regardless.

Photo by Scoop

Fans are not the biggest fans of Siu Sai Wan, being a cavernous stadium- having nearly twelve thousand seats). But they were impressed by the efforts of the Eastern District staff to make the environment family friendly and increase the attendance, with additional transport links, carnival games and better refreshments than LCSD grounds normally deliver. It clearly worked with over two and a half thousand people through the doors on a hot Sunday afternoon with another HKPL game at HKFC (a much easier ground to travel to for the neutral fan), which had less than 700 fans. It should be noted that there have already been three Hong Kong Premier League games this season with over two thousand fans, suggesting a bounce from previous levels. Both of Kitchee's games so far (albeit 'away' games for us) and Lee Man vs Tai Po had bigger attendances than any game in the league since May 2023. Can the HKPL maintain this high fan engagement moving forward, building on from forty thousand plus who saw Hong Kong beat India at Kai Tak Stadium in June

Other news

Photo by HKFA

Hong Kong played two friendlies in Thailand last week, participating in the King's Cup. In the first game against Iraq, former Kitchee striker Matt Orr gave Hong Kong a shock lead from the penalty spot, after Juninho was fouled, before two late goals from an Iraqi substitute sealed the win for the team ranked 89 places higher than Hong Kong. Juninho and Tan Chun-lok played 75 and 86 minutes respectively. Hong Kong then played Fiji in the third place playoff, where Fiji's two early red cards made it something of a walkover. Juninho got two goals and an assist in the first half before being withdrawn at half time, while Tan Chun-lok was an unused substitute. 

Photo by HKFA

Hong Kong U23 took on Iran, the UAE and Guam in qualifying for the U23 Asian Cup, Haddow and Slattery started as Hong Kong held out for 70 minutes against Iran, before capitulating 4-0. In the second game against the UAE Hong Kong lost 2-0, with Haddow and Slattery starting again, and Chen Ngo-hin on as a late substitute. The third game saw Hong Kong beat Guam 1-0. Jay Haddow was sent off early in the second half, with Slattery playing half an hour off the bench as Hong Kong held on to win, but were eliminated.

What's next

Lee Man 'away' at Mong Kok on the 20th, 4pm kickoff. We will also face North District in the Senior Shield quarterfinal on Sunday 28th September at Tsing Yi. We will be without Bear in goal again, and Tan Chun-lok through suspension, but it is possible we will see Asier Illarramendi make his debut, subject to sorting his work permit and being in good condition, after so long out.

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Match highlights