Rusty performance but Kitchee emerge victorious from HKFC clash- HKFC 1 Kitchee 2

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill

Kitchee started 2026 with their fifth league win in a row. First half goals from Adrian and Kanda gave Kitchee a 2-0 lead, before Dietrich pulled one back from a corner in stoppage time. The second half passed without much incident, and neither side really looked like scoring again, with the result sends Kitchee seven points clear at the top. 

Law fractured his collarbone in U22 game, while Dantas suspended retroactively after an incident in the Southern away game- a quirk of the shambolic organisation of the HKFA disciplinary committee that only meets once a month. Mingazow and Slattery were also injured. Kitchee made three changes, with Haddow, Beattie and Kendy coming in for Ari, Dantas and Juninho as Kitchee changed to a back four. Versatile new signing Anson Wong Ho-chun was an unused substitute after signing from Qingdao Hainiu; after starting his youth career at Kitchee he eventually made his first team debut for South China, before moving on to Lee Man, Eastern and then Qingdao. Over Christmas Kim Shin-wook's contract was officially terminated, and so with two foreign players unavailable there was a place on the bench for Enikar.

Bear; Haddow, Riera, Jason, Beattie (Jordan 82); Lok (c), Illarra; Leandro, Kendy (Lung 90), Kanda (Juninho 60); Adrian.

Unused subs: Wang, Anson, Enikar, A Chan, Li Siu-hin, Ari

Match events

Kitchee scored after five minutes. Callum Beattie, making his return to HKFC, played a long ball over the top, and Adrian was able to capitalise on Aleks committing to the ball to stroke the ball into an empty net. Kitchee had chances to increase their lead, with Adrian, Leandro and Kanda all going close. As the first half drew to a close both teams scored; Kanda extended Kitchee's lead after being set up by Leandro, before Dietrich pulled one back for HKFC from a corner in stoppage time. The second half was pretty dull, with both teams looking like teams who had not played in a month. There were no real chances of note, and Anson Wong remained an unused substitute. Another game, another win and the season rolls on. It may not always be pretty, but the current performances are delivering results.

Fans feedback

Lethargic performance, indicative of a team without a game for a month and not much training with a full squad. HKFC did not offer much, but Kitchee were a bit slow in transitions. The switch to a back four worked although against such poor opposition that is not that impressive. The change in formation did result in Kitchee playing Leandro on the right wing, and he took too long on the ball at times. Yumemi Kanda rightfully won man of the match but is yet to complete a full 90 minutes for Kitchee, and has come off between the 60th and 70th minutes in each of his last five games. Jason Kam did well bringing the ball out of defence on multiple occasions, but unfortunately there was no one there to take advantage. Kitchee struggled to get any crosses into the box, a consequence of playing two nominally central players out wide and having two more defensive fullbacks. Going back to the end of last season Kitchee are unbeaten in eleven league games, although we will have to do something spectacular to overhaul the thirty-one unbeaten league games between early 2017 and late 2018. If Kitchee avoid defeat next week, they will go a full calendar year unbeaten away from home, with Kitchee's next 'away' game not until the split into a top and bottom group. However, these unbeaten away games does include Eastern (twice) and Lee Man (once) where arguably Kitchee's fanbase was much more prominent.

Other news

Hong Kong's first games under Roberto Losada ended in a penalty shootout defeat after a 3-3 draw onaggregate against Guangdong. Tan Chun-lok and Bear started both games, with Lok captaining and lasting 90 minutes in both, and Bear only being subbed off for the penalty shootout. Juninho and Haddow played over half an hour off the bench in the first game, with Jason Kam and Jordan Lam unused subs. The second game saw Juninho, Haddow and Jordan Lam all start before being withdrawn in the second half, and late callup Cheng Chin-lung remaining unused on the bench.

What's next

We travel to Tsing Yi for our final away game of the regular season as we take on Rangers (17th January, 6pm) before seven games at our temporary home ground in Tseung Kwan O follow. Hope to see you there. The transfer window is open and Kitchee have already seen Tuscany move to Spain and Anson Wong come in, and we'll keep you updated with any news as it happens.

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Match highlights