5 star Kitchee bounce back in style against poor North District side- Kitchee 5 North District 0

Kitchee were dominant in their return to winning ways, as first half goals from Machado, Rey and Juninho theoretically put Kitchee in the driving seat, although after last weeks capitulations naturally fans were nervous. Jordan Lam's sending off for two bookings just before the hour saw Kitchee play over half an hour with ten men, and despite some signs of resurgence from North District, two goals in quick succession from Juninho and Temirov sealed victory.

Team news

Welthon remained out alongside Mingazow and Tan Chun-lok, and the starting line up was unchanged. Law Tsz-chun's appearance off the bench was his 150th in a Kitchee shirt. Matthew Slattery made his first league appearance of the season, coming on in the closing stages. 

Talley; Bae, Leon, Dantas, Jordan; Machado, Ngan (Haddow 84), Rey (Lung 89), Fernando (c) (Law 64); Juninho (Chen 89), Temirov (Slattery 84)

Subs: Wang, Helio, Poon, Buddle, Tuscany, Jason

Match highlights

Temirov had an early header tipped over, but after seventeen minutes Kitchee broke the deadlock. Juninho's cross was defended terribly, and Machado pounced to score. The Portuguese winger had an opportunity to double the lead soon afterwards, but his tame effort was hit straight at the goalkeeper. Just after the half hour, Kitchee's attack linked up well to double the advantage. Aaron Rey passed to Juninho on the edge of the box, and the latter's shot was saved. Fernando hit a cross/shot on the rebound which the goalkeeper also kept out, but could only go as far as Aaron Rey. The Spaniard set himself and scored. Two minutes later a long ball forward from Juninho was chased down by Temirov, who played it back to Juninho to score with a lovely finish. As the half came to a close Talley was finally properly called into action to tip a shot away, and Kitchee were coasting, but fans, players and coaches were perhaps fearful of a comeback after the events of the last 10 days.

Juninho went close from range in the opening stages of the second half, before Kitchee went down to ten men, as Jordan Lam picked up two yellow cards in ten minutes. This prompted a reshuffle; Fernando was replaced by Law, who moved to left back, with Juninho coming onto the left wing. Talley spilled a freekick, being acrobatically rescued by Bae Jae-woo's clearance. North District were buoyed by the advantage and pushed forward a bit more, but Kitchee held firm. A lovely cross from Temirov was flicked first time by Rey and Machado, finding Juninho who doubled his tally for the afternoon. Barely a minute later Ngan Cheuk-pan's through ball found Temirov, and the Uzbek forward capped his strong attacking performance with a goal, after finding himself one on one with the keeper. This finally triggered Cardoso to make the remaining changes: Haddow, Slattery, Cheng Chin-lung and Chen Ngo-hin helping to see out the win and the clean sheet.

Fan feedback

A comfortable 5-0 win, which hopefully builds confidence for playing Lee Man next week. North District were poor and offered little, but we still scored some very nice goals. The only downside was Jordan Lam's sending off for two silly yellow cards, meaning Law Tsz-chun plays left back against Lee Man and marking Everton. There was naturally reluctance from Cardoso to make changes after the collapses of previous weeks, but the subs should have been made earlier- Law coming on at left back aside, there were no other subs until well past the eightieth minute. Temirov has played over eighty minutes in each of Kitchee's last seven games. Despite rounding off the scoring, it still took five minutes before he came off, to be replaced by Matthew Slattery for his first league appearance of the season. The team adjusted well to Jordan's red card; while there were less attacks we defended well and still scored twice. A fifth clean sheet of the season but there were some shaky moments spilling shots, and needed to be bailed out by Bae Jae-woo's acrobatic clearance in the first half.

What's next

We welcome Lee Man to Mong Kok at 6pm on Saturday 15th, on 'Super Saturday' with fellow title challengers Tai Po and Eastern facing off in a huge weekend for the league. In the week we also will find out which players are going away with Hong Kong for the upcoming games.

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Two games, two 2-0 leads and two 3-2 defeats. An absolute embarrassment- Kitchee 2 Kowloon City 3 and Kitchee 2 Tai Po 3

Kitchee have had a terrible week. First they were stunned at home by Kowloon City, for the first defeat of 2025. First half goals from Aaron Rey and Juninho had Kitchee in a comfortable position. But after Cardoso withdrew the pair and Fernando with an eye on Saturday's cup game, Kowloon City burst into life, scoring three goals in five minutes, and Kitchee had no response, falling to a 3-2 defeat, their first in the league after scoring first since March 2020. Kitchee's week got worse on Saturday, where 2-0 up after 26 minutes became a 3-2 defeat after extra time. Fernando and Temirov scored in the first half, before Philip Chan pulled one back just before half time. A side devoid of ideas stumbled towards full time, eventually playing a 5-4-1 to try and see out the game, but 83rd and 115th minute goals from Philip Chan completed his hat trick, leaving Kitchee fans absolutely fuming, especially as it seemed Cardoso refused to acknowledge tired legs or the need for attacking impetus.

Kitchee 2-3 Kowloon City

Team news

Matheus Dantas was suspended, but Leon Jones was fit to start after coming off at half time at HKFC. Tan Chun-lok and Ruslan Mingazow remained out. Aaron Rey returned to the starting lineup, alongside Helio and Chen Ngo-hin, with Jordan Lam and Bae Jae-woo coming onto the bench. 

Lineup: Talley, Haddow, Leon, Helio (c), Law (Jordan 78); Chen (Machado 78), Ngan, Rey (Lung 46), Fernando (Poon 60); Juninho (Welthon 60, Bae 86), Temirov

Unused subs: Wang, Buddle, Tuscany, Slattery, Jason

Match highlights

Kitchee went close early on, with Chen Ngo-hin getting on the end of Fernando's cross, but was unable to divert it in. A lovely long ball forward from Haddow found Juninho who ran through to score, but a lengthy VAR check pulled it back for offside. Pinball in the Kitchee box saw a number of bodies go down, and a Kowloon City penalty was awarded (overturned by VAR) around the half hour. Aaron Rey opened the scoring after a pass from Fernando, and Juninho doubled the score in stoppage time with an outrageous overhead kick (also assisted by Fernando), as the teams played ten additional minutes owing to both VAR checks.

As the clock ticked towards seventy minutes it seemed as if Kitchee would stroll to victory- there was very little offered by Kowloon City, and Kitchee had chances to increase their lead, while bringing off Rey, Fernando and Juninho with Saturday's FA Cup quarter final in mind. Kowloon City then pulled a goal back with a low shot from the edge of the box, and barely a minute later Gaucho was left unmarked at the far post to equalise. A complete collapse, and absolutely embarrassing, but it was about to get worse. Within five minutes, Kowloon City took the lead, a long throw finding its way to Kayron who found it far too easy to score from the edge of the box. Luis Machado and Jordan Lam were sent on to chase the game, but any chance of a draw (or win) was damaged by Welthon's collapse, later ruled to be a concussion, with the Brazilian taken to hospital, which gave us the opportunity to use a concussion sub, but Bae Jae-woo was preferred to Slattery, despite the desperation for a goal. Helio was pushed up front as an extra body, and the captain's knockdown should have been buried by Poon Pui-hin, who missed a sitter. Kowloon City almost scored a 4th on the counter attack, but Talley got down well to keep it 3-2. A shambolic collapse and the players should hang their heads in shame.

Fan feedback

There are no words to describe how embarrassing the second half collapse was. Kitchee should have been completely out of sight, but allowing our opponents a route back in to the match was awful. There has been too much reliance in recent weeks on moments of magic in attack. Ngan Cheuk-pan massively exposed in central midfield, as he tries his best as our sole central midfielder but has limited support. If the club want to, they have until the end of March to bring in another body, although Tan Chun-lok is on the mend and hopefully available in the coming weeks. There is far too much complacency in the side, which after allowing North District to come back into the opener and earn a point, we had hoped had left the side.

Cardoso was complacent in bringing off Rey, Fernando and Juninho with an eye on the FA Cup (and the route to ACL2 qualification), and the replacements did not deliver- a decision that looks even worse considering Saturday's capitulation. While we can understand the rationale behind the subs, the mentality of the team was not there to see out what should have been a comfortable win. Credit has to go to Kowloon City for capitalising on poor defending and achieving arguably their biggest result as a HKPL team.

Welthon was withdrawn following a nasty collapse, and fans were relieved to hear he was released him hospital prior to Saturday's game. Questions have to be asked about the impact of his initial clash of heads while the game was still 2-0- if there were signs of concussion then, he spent at least fifteen more minutes on the pitch before collapsing. Back to tactics- it was stupid of Cardoso to then use the additional concussion sub on bringing on Bae, rather than Slattery as an attacking option. There is no point in the U22 league if Kitchee's striker at this level is not used in a game when we are desperately chasing a goal, and instead we bring on a full back and put a thirty nine year old centre back up front.

Kitchee 2 Tai Po 3

Team news

Dantas returned from suspension, but Welthon was absent through concussion. Kitchee made four changes (Bae, Dantas, Machado and Jordan in for Haddow, Helio, Law and Chen) as they sought to bounce back from Wednesday's embarrassing collapse.

Talley; Bae, Leon, Dantas, Jordan; Machado (Law 79), Ngan, Rey, Fernando (Helio 63); Juninho, Temirov

Unused subs: Wang, Haddow, Lung, Poon, Chen, Buddle, Tuscany, Slattery, Jason

Match highlights

Kitchee had the first big chance of the game when a long ball down the left found Temirov. His effort was saved by Tse Ka-wing, and Juninho's effort on the rebound was blocked. Fernando opened the scoring from long range not long afterwards for his fourth goal in six games, and ninth goal contribution this season, all of which have come since the away win at Tai Po. Not long afterwards, Temirov looped in a header from Jordan Lam's free kick and Kitchee were coasting. Valverde had Tai Po's first chance of note, firing wide from outside the box. As the game came towards half time, Philip Chan evaded the Kitchee defence to head in at the far post, and you could sense the nerves amongst the Kitchee fanbase following Wednesday. The goal revitalised Tai Po, with Bae Jae-woo having to clear off the line. Kitchee had one more chance in the first half, with Temirov and Fernando battling for the ball, but Fernando couldn't get any power on the header and the chance faded.

Kitchee started the second half with a golden chance. Dantas played a long ball up to Temirov, but the Uzbek was denied. It then became the Tai Po show- Talley made great saves from Philip Chan and Lee Ka-ho as the league leaders chased an equaliser. By this point, Kitchee had withdrawn both wingers and set up in a 5-4-1, offering absolutely nothing going forward. After more Kitchee inability to deal with set pieces, Philip Chan scored an inevitable equaliser, and extra time beckoned. 

Despite Kitchee playing over a hundred minutes on Wednesday, Cardoso did not freshen the team up for the additional thirty minutes, despite a number of players warming up for most of the second half. Tai Po continued to have all of the ball, with the only 'attacking' move being to move Helio into midfield- not a great look for the youngsters on the bench that a thirty nine year old centre back is preferred to join the attack. Habib went close and Weverton hit the post after Bae failed to clear, but Kitchee did absolutely nothing in extra time, opting to play for penalties with six defenders on the pitch. Once again Philip Chan found space in the box and seal the comeback in the 115th minute, and once again Cardoso did nothing, not sending on Poon, Chen or Slattery in an attempt to drag the game to penalties. Another humiliating collapse, and the players and staff have a lot to answer for, both for the complacency shown on the pitch and the lack of changes when the side were clearly knackered and bereft of ideas.

Fan feedback

Another game, another embarrassing collapse. This result in isolation would be bad enough, ending another possible route into ACL competition. But considering Cardoso essentially sacrificed Wednesday's result to focus on Saturday, it looks even worse. The players looked complacent, and while it is understandable some players tired after playing almost 250 minutes in 72 hours, the refusal of Cardoso to make any changes cost us. Yet again, there was limited attacking threat- Fernando's outrageous longshot breaking the deadlock, and Kitchee had almost no shots after the 50th minute. The injuries to Fernando and Machado did not help, but from the 80th minute to the 120th minute no changes were made. It has often been the case this season that there is a lack of trust in the bench, and this was made apparent on Saturday.

The long term injuries to Tan Chun-lok and Mingazow have affected our depth, and no serious attempts have been made by the staff to bring in replacements- Lok has been injured since early November, and we have looked overrun in midfield as Ngan Cheuk-pan tires from being our only midfielder. Whether the subs could have been fresh legs in extra time at 2-2, or as an attempt to rescue an equaliser in the dying moments, they were not used. Similar happened in the Senior Shield defeat to Lee Man, when Cardoso only made one sub throughout the whole game. Fans are never going to fault the likes of Helio for their years of service, but twice in two games our attempts to chase the game have been to put him up front, rather than using actual attacking players sitting on our bench. 

If the Kitchee staff wish to bring in reinforcements, they have until the end of the month, but it seems stubbornness off the pitch, and a refusal to change tactics and personnel on it, have caused our season to more or less come to an end in early March. It will take a miracle to win the lead, and we still have to play four games against the teams above us in our final nine. For us to have any chance of silverware we have to first overcome Eastern in the Sapling Cup group stage with a depleted side owing to Hong Kong duty, and then win a semi final and a final. The 2009-10 season was our last without a major trophy, going back to 2008-09 if you ignore the Community Cup (Hong Kong's equivalent of the Community Shield, which has not been a part of the Hong Kong calendar for years). Fan frustrations were boiling over, with angry fan reactions at full time having to be mediated by assistant Nando Recio. Time will tell if Ken Ng gives Cardoso until the end of the season as there is no obvious replacement within the coaching setup, unless technical director Jordi Tarres (who holds a UEFA Pro Licence) is moved into an interim coaching role. Something needs to change- despite the unbeaten start to 2025 only ending this week, performances have not been good enough, with the side regularly over-reliant on moments of brilliance to bail them out, and there is no clear tactical philosophy.

Kitchee vs Kowloon City highlights

Kitchee vs Tai Po highlights

What's next and other news

North District at home in the league on Saturday 8th, where anything less than a win surely means Cardoso is fired. Nine Kitchee players were called up to the home friendly against Macau and the World Cup qualifier away in Singapore taking place later this month. Leon Jones, Helio, Jordan Lam, Poon Pui-hin, Tan Chun-lok, Fernando, Ngan Cheuk-pan, Juninho and Matthew Slattery will be hoping to make the final 23.

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Kitchee emerge victorious from the jungle- HKFC 1 Kitchee 3

Photo by Scoop

By Adam O'Domhnaill

For the third time in four weeks, Kitchee came from behind to win, and extend the unbeaten run to six (with four wins on the spin). Callum Beattie gave HKFC a shock first half lead, but Fernando levelled on the verge of half time, continuing his good goalscoring form. Beattie then turned villain, scoring a comical own goal to put Kitchee ahead. A controversial penalty given against Dantas provided Scally with the chance to equalise, but Fynn Talley held firm to deny him. Despite HKFC continuing to push for an equaliser, Sherzod Temirov wrapped up the win in stoppage time.

Team news

Photo by Scoop

Kitchee had two enforced changes, with the suspended Bae Jae-woo and Aaron Rey replaced by Luis Machado and Jay Haddow, the latter for his first start since early October. Jordan Lam had not recovered from his hamstring injury, so he remained with Mingazow and Tan Chun-lok on the injury list. Diego Bardanca joined the bench for the first time in the league since October. Kitchee retained the 4-4-2 formation of previous weeks, with a positional swap as Juninho moved into central midfield to allow Machado to return to the right wing.

Talley; Haddow, Leon (Helio 45), Dantas, Law, Machado (Chen 59), Ngan, Juninho, Fernando (Poon 73), Temirov, Welthon (Lung 82)

Unused subs: Wang, Buddle, Bardanca, Tuscany, Slattery, Jason

Match highlights

Photo by Scoop

Kitchee had the first real chance of the match when Dantas fired a loose ball from a set piece straight at Toomer in the HKFC net, before Leo Peres almost gave HKFC a shock lead. The Brazilian capitalised on some shoddy defending but could only hit the post. Toomer then denied Junior as Kitchee looked to be in the ascendency, but the defence was not looking solid at all. Prior to this game, HKFC had only scored five goals against Kitchee since 2006, but they took the lead when Callum Beattie played a corner short to Oscar Benavides and received the ball back in the channel. He took the ball inside unopposed, and curled a lovely effort into the far corner right in front of Sportsman's Bar. Temirov went close to an equaliser but it looked as if Kitchee would go into the break trailing for the second game in a row. But deep into a lengthy period of stoppage time Welthon set up Law, who played in Fernando to curl in a beautiful right footed effort first time. 

Photo by Scoop

Within five minutes of the second half, Beattie turned from hero to zero, inadvertently turning Fernando's cross into his own net, and the travelling fans felt as if a big win was on the cards, with Welthon going close a couple of times. But with fifteen minutes to go HKFC won a penalty, as Dantas was adjudged to have led with his elbow when beating former Kitchee centre back Andy Russell to the ball. The Brazilian earned a yellow card for this, with VAR confirming it was not a red card offence, but as it was his fifth caution he will miss our next game. Scottish winger Scally stepped up, having scored two penalties already this season, but he was denied by Fynn Talley diving to his right. As the second half went on Kitchee really should have put the game to bed; impressive substitute Chen Ngo-hin went close with a curling effort, only denied by a stunning Toomer save, and the Englishman in the HKFC net thwarted many more attacks. But as HKFC threw caution to the wind, Kitchee capitalised to score their third. A long ball forward toward Temirov was not cleared, and pressure from Lung forced a sloppy clearance. Juninho had loads of time to set up Temirov, whose deflected effort was his tenth of the season in all competitions.

Fan feedback

Photo by Scoop

Kitchee made much harder work of this game than they needed to, but HKFC are improving, as shown by the return fixture where it was only 2-0 until stoppage time. It is a fourth win in a row for the Kitchee machine and a sixth game unbeaten, propelling us into second place in the league. After not coming from behind to win in the league for years we have now done it three times in four weeks, showing a determination that hasn't always been there, both this season and in the past. Key to our recent winning streak have been Fernando and Temirov, who having spent large parts of the first half of the season on the bench or playing out of position have come in following the draw to Eastern and the switch to 4-4-2. Fernando on the left wing has three goals and three assists in four games, winning the man of the match award three times. Temirov has three goals playing through the middle in the last four games, and is on double figures for the campaign.

Photo by Scoop

Talley's penalty save was crucial to our success, as the slither of hope HKFC had of a positive result was extinguished. HKFC were defensively solid as they were earlier this season- the veterans Toomer Russell and Sealy cementing this, but Kitchee looked a bit short of ideas, the goals being a wondergoal from Fernando, an own goal, and a counter attack as HKFC committed men forward, although Kitchee were all over HKFC for large portions of the game. Law at left back, while not being a natural left footer, was constantly overlapping, even if the one occasion he did not Fernando had a go at him. But Law was key to our equaliser, slipping the ball onto Fernando to work his magic and continue his exceptional run of form.

Photo by Scoop

Dantas and Helio (on at half time for Leon Jones) threw themselves in the way of a number of HKFC attacks to preserve the win. Helio probably comes in next game as Dantas serves a one match ban for five cautions; since joining the club in October he has started thirteen of the fourteen games we have played. Juninho and Ngan Cheuk-pan were an unbalanced central midfield combination, and we look forward to the return of Aaron Rey and Bae Jae-woo from suspension, and hopefully Jordan Lam coming back from injury. Rey coming into midfield may allow Juninho to move forward into the front pairing- Welthon and Temirov do not click well together. Chen and Poon offered energy off the bench that we lacks as levels dropped, but the pair need to work on passing and finishing if they want to start regularly. It was great to see Jay Haddow get his first senior start in four months, and complete the full ninety minutes injury free. 

What's next

Photo by Muudesign

We have a break until our next game, taking on Kowloon City on Wednesday 26th at Mong Kok, 8pm kickoff. We follow this up with an FA Cup quarter final against Tai Po on Saturday 1st March. Kitchee are currently in second, three points off Tai Po having played the same number of games, and Lee Man's comeback victory over Eastern means that four teams are still challenging for the league, with ten games remaining.

Match highlights

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Poor first half but Welthon's second half brace rescues an important three points- Rangers 1 Kitchee 2

By Adam O'Domhnaill

Credits to Kitchee

Kitchee found themselves trailing at half time as Lau Chi-lok scored after the Kitchee defence failed to deal with a long ball. The second half was an improvement, but Welthon scored his first goals since late November to ensure Kitchee went away with all three points 

Team news

Luis Machado was suspended and Jordan Lam injured, and the pair joined Ruslan Mingazow and Tan Chun-lok on the sidelines. Law and Welthon came in, as Kitchee retained the 4-4-2 from previous weeks, with Law at left back, Juninho at right wing and Welthon and Temirov as a front two. Fernando captained for his 200th Kitchee appearance.

Talley; Bae (Haddow 90), Leon, Dantas, Law (Helio 80); Juninho (Poon 90), Ngan, Rey (Lung 45), Fernando (Chen 80); Welthon, Temirov

Unused subs: Wang, Buddle, Tuscany, Slattery, Yeung, Jason 

Match highlights

Ngan Cheuk-pan's driving run set up Temirov, who shot straight at the goalkeeper, and Juninho's attempts to acrobatically steer Fernando's cross towards goal met the same outcome. Kitchee were all over Rangers, and Welthon went close from a corner. Against the run of play, Rangers scored with their first real chance. A long ball from recent arrival Maxwell Ansan was flicked into Lau Chi-lok by Tai Po loanee Biteco. Biteco then received the ball back, lofting a pass over the Kitchee defence and Lau Chi-lok scored past Talley. Chan Kun-sun in the Rangers goal kept them ahead at the break, tipping over Juninho's header from Fernando's cross. Kitchee went in at half time 1-0 down, with many fans annoyed.

Credits to Kitchee

Half time saw the booked Rey withdrawn for Cheng Chin-lung after a poor first half. Ngan Cheuk-pan and Dantas hit tame efforts from range that were easily dealt with. But just under ten minutes into the half, another Fernando cross (this time on his right foot) was headed in by Welthon, who broke his goal drought of over five hundred minutes. This duo almost combined again after Fernando drove from deep, but Welthon nodded just wide. Just after the hour veteran captain Helio was introduced, and the team switched to a 3-5-2 formation. Bae and Fernando were used as wing backs, with Ngan, Lung and Juninho in the midfield. After seventy minutes, Juninho's cross was spilled by Chan in goal and Welthon reacted quickest to scramble the ball home, but the linesman's flag cut the celebrations short. After a brief interlude for a VAR check in the referee's earpiece, the goal was given, and Kitchee had twenty minutes to see out the win, with little action of note- one shot from Juninho that was saved. The late introduction of Jay Haddow marked the youngster's first senior minutes for Kitchee in over three months after a number of injury issues. A win is a win, but it was not pretty.

Fan feedback

A lack of tactical linkup in the first half meant we failed to score despite having the lion's share of possession. The partnership of Welthon and Temirov offered little connection, and Fernando was the only one offering any threat, with a number of good crosses into the box. The absences of Jordan Lam and Luis Machado greatly affected Kitchee's attacking build up- Law stepped in at left back but offered zero overlap, and Juninho was drawn centrally with not a lot of threat from Bae Jae-woo down the right hand side. Aaron Rey had his worst game in a while, with passes often going astray, and he was hooked at half time, with his replacement Cheng Chin-lung looking a bit more assured in his place. The returns of Machado and hopefully Jordan Lam next week will give us an attacking impetus we lacked this week.

The defence was exposed to a long ball over the top, allowing Rangers to score with their only real chance. A lack of communication compounded with poor positioning in defence and midfield left Biteco unmarked, who showed his quality to set up Lau Chi-lok, the veteran striker finding it far too easy to get in behind. Kitchee's build up from the back was poor compared to previous weeks, despite the increased consistency of selection- 8 players started for the third game in a row. Kitchee's lack of discipline was a concern, with five yellow cards, and those for Aaron Rey and Bae Jae-woo result in the pair being suspended next week. 

Kitchee keep up the somewhat positive momentum with a third win in a row, and will look to press on with two more with HKFC and Kowloon City next up. Tai Po are still out in front of the four-way title fight, but consistent performances from us will set us up well to challenge for trophies on three fronts.

What's next

Credits to Scoop

Hong Kong Football Club away next Sunday at 4.30pm. We will be without Mingazow and Tan Chun-lok through injury again, with Bae Jae-woo and Aaron Rey both suspended. Hopefully we have Machado and Jordan Lam back for a potentially tricky away trip, with HKFC beating Tai Po a few weeks back.

Match highlights

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Eastern destroyed as unbeaten league run continues- Kitchee 3 Eastern 0

By Adam O'Domhnaill

Kitchee's unbeaten run in the league stretched to six games as first half goals from Temirov, Fernando and Aaron Rey saw off our rivals. The second half passed without much incident, and served as an opportunity for players to get minutes into the legs.

Team news

For the first time this season, Kitchee named an unchanged starting eleven to take on Eastern, who had played on Thursday in their Senior Shield triumph.

Talley; Bae (Law 84), Leon, Dantas (Helio 84), Jordan; Machado, Ngan, Rey (Welthon 56) , Fernando (c) (Lung 56); Juninho (Poon 72), Temirov

Unused subs: Wang, Chen, Buddle, Tuscany, Slattery, Yeung, Jason

Match highlights

A dinked cross from Machado found Temirov unmarked in the box, and the Uzbek headed in to give Kitchee the lead after five minutes. Talley had to be alert to keep Narh's header and Gondra's driven effort out, keeping Kitchee ahead. After half an hour good pressure in midfield from Aaron Rey allowed the Spaniard to play in Temirov, who selflessly set up Fernando, and the captain for the day scored again. The first half continued to be all Kitchee- a pointlessly long VAR check for a possible Kitchee penalty did not prove anything, and Machado went close, being kept out by Yapp. Midway through the eight additional minutes (the majority as a result of the VAR check), good work from Temirov, Fernando and Juninho down the left wing played the ball across the box, and despite Yapp's initial save, Rey was on hand to beat Jojo to the rebound, and Kitchee were in dreamland at 3-0 up, with Eastern looking completely lost.

In the early exchanges of the second half, Eastern goalkeeper and Hong Kong captain Yapp Hung-fai was removed, and soon afterwards Rey and Fernando were withdrawn for Lung and Welthon, with mixed reports saying one or both may have had injury concerns. Temirov had two great chances to extend our lead- him and Machado led a counter attack but the former's first time effort went narrowly wide, and soon afterwards Temirov got a toe onto Ngan Cheuk-pan's ball over the top but Narh cleared his shot off the line. Substitute Welthon went close, but the second half ended goalless, and Kitchee are now unbeaten in four games to start 2025.

Fans feedback

After a disappointing 2024, Kitchee have come away with eight points from the first four games of 2025, and arguably could have got all twelve. The squad is playing with more purpose, and is in tune with Cardoso's desired tactical philosophy, and the attack looks much more potent. Fernando and Temirov have both scored in back to back games, and the defence has been solid. The quality further up the field has meant that Talley has not had much to do, but he did make two good saves at 1-0 and will be delighted to have achieved his fourth clean sheet of the season. Eastern looked like a team that had played on Thursday and aside from a bright spell in the first twenty minutes, tired very quickly and offered very little threat. That being said, Dantas was booked for a foul and was lucky not to receive a second yellow card, which could have changed the game.

Fans may be concernd at the potential injuries to Rey and Fernando, with the pair both coming off early in the second half, with Fernando seemingly injuring his hip. With Tan Chun-lok, Mingazow and Haddow all long-term absentees- although Haddow has featured for the under 22s recently, the lack of winter business could backfire. Machado is banned for the next game, and Dantas, Rey and Bae are all one booking away. Given Cardoso's evident reliance on key cogs in the system, some more discipline is needed to ensure that players do not miss big games through the silly accumulation of petty yellow cards. Kitchee now have games against Rangers, HKFC and Kowloon City, which when they last played this trio Kitchee won by a combined margin of eighteen goals to one, and given the good performances of the recent weeks, fans will hope for some more dominant performances.

A win against Eastern always goes down well with the fanbase, especially given Eastern's role in extinguishing Kitchee's slim chances of trophies towards the end of the last campaign. Eastern looked shattered with a short turnaround, and Kitchee eased to victory, in stark contrast to recent close encounters- the previous four games between the two were either draws or narrow Eastern wins. Fans were pleased to end Eastern's unbeaten HKPL run of over twenty games. Other fans took the opportunity to spend time with former captain and Kitchee legend Huang Yang, who joined the fans in block 28 for his first in person Kitchee game since bringing his career to a close

What's next

Rangers away at Tsing Yi on the 9th February, a 3pm kick off. We expect Tan Chun-lok and Ruslan Mingazow to remain on the sidelines, and they will be joined by the suspended Luis Machado. Fernando was withdrawn, but perhaps we may see Jay Haddow on the pitch for the first time since November.

Match highlights

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Kitchee break Tai Po curse in monumental away win- Tai Po 1 Kitchee 2

By Adam O'Domhnaill

Summary

Photo by Yin

Kitchee came from behind to win for the first time in the league in over five years, with first half goals from Temirov and Fernando (a penalty deep into stoppage time) cancelled out Tai Po's opener. A goalless second half followed as Kitchee had chances to increase the lead, but also defended resolutely to seal a crucial victory, the first in Tai Po since March 2018.

Team news

Credits to Kitchee

Mingazow joins Tan Chun-lok and Jay Haddow on the sidelines, and Cardoso made three changes to the starting lineup, with Temirov, Juninho and Bae coming in for Welthon, Mingazow and Law, as Kitchee switched to more of a 4-4-2- Juninho played as a second striker, and Fernando played on the left.

Talley; Bae, Leon, Dantas, Jordan; Machado, Ngan, Rey, Fernando (c) (Chen 78); Juninho (Helio 90), Temirov (Welthon 86)

Unused subs: Wang, Law, Lung, Poon, Buddle, Slattery, Yeung, Jason

Match highlights

Credits to Kitchee

On a cold, unpleasant day, Tai Po took the lead early on. After eleven minutes, Michel Renner, Lucas Silva and Lee Ka-ho linked up to set up Renner, who timed his move into the box perfectly to beat Bae to the cross in. Fernando fired straight at Tse Ka-wing, and Machado's long-range sighter drifted aimlessly wide, as some Kitchee fans resigned themselves to another defeat and a definitive end to the title ambitions. Rey played in Fernando down the left, whose cross was met by Temirov at the near post with a lovely header to equalise. Tai Po's goalscoring hero Renner was then forced off through injury, and Marcao headed wide from a corner as Tai Po continued to look good. As stoppage time began, good linkup from Fernando and Jordan down the left set up Juninho, whose shot hit the arm of Weverton. After a lengthy delay, both for the VAR check and for Weverton's treatment (some reports suggest he suffered a bad injury), captain for the day Fernando stepped up and scored past Tse Ka-wing with his first Kitchee penalty in five years, despite the majority of fans assuming it would be Temirov, as the Uzbek forward was our only penalty scorer so far this season. 2-1 up, and Kitchee fans started to dream of what would be a massive victory.

Credits to Kitchee

As the second half rolled on, Machado's break down the right teed up Temirov, who tracked the ball and shielded it from the Tai Po defence, before unleashing a left footed first time strike which went just wide. Lucas Silva blasted one over the bar, and as the game came towards a close Kitchee held firm, negating Tai Po's threat. Fernando was stretchered off after seventy eight minutes, although it does not appear to be too serious, before Jordan Lam hit the bar from a free kick, the full back coming agonisingly close to his first goal for the club. After mammoth shifts up front Temirov and Juninho were replaced by Welthon and Helio, and after ten minutes of stoppage time Kitchee held on for a key win. Could it be the catalyst for a charge towards the title? 

Fans feedback

Credits to Kitchee

An unexpected victory given our past difficulties, but a huge win in the circumstances. Kitchee were due a bit of luck, and will look to push on and challenge for the league title. Every player put in a shift, and while the substitutions came late on, they all did the jobs they were meant to- Chen Ngo-hin and Welthon hustled hard, and Helio came on to help see out the win. Ngan Cheuk-pan in midfield was immense, locking down the threat of Philip Chan, while Temirov up front was an absolute workhorse, scoring a deserved goal and having a couple of good chances. Man of the Match Fernando had a goal and an assist, in what was probably his best game for Kitchee (offensively) for a long long time. The change in formation to a 4-4-2 posed questions to Tai Po's giant Brazilian centre backs, and Kitchee used clever movement to expose them. Talley was largely dominant in coming for crosses, and Leon and Dantas continued to develop their defensive partnership. 

Credits to Kitchee

Kitchee won away at Tai Po for the first time in over two and a half thousand days (March 2018), and came from behind to win a league game for the first time in over five years (November 2019). For Tai Po, it was their first home defeat in over a year. Fernando's goal drew him level with Sandro as Kitchee's joint fourth highest scorer, and baring injury he will bring up 200 appearances for the club this season. While his impact this season has been less than in previous years- given his advancing years it is understandable he has only started five times this season, but he is still capable of delivering top quality performances, as shown here.

What's next

Credits to Kitchee

Derby day again next week, with us playing Eastern on Sunday 2nd at 6pm at Mong Kok Stadium. Win and we can hopefully build up some momentum. Mingazow, Haddow and Lok are all expected to still be missing, but the rumours of a new signing are yet to be confirmed.

Match highlights

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One league win in five as Kitchee drop points again- Eastern 1 Kitchee 1

By Adam O'Domhnaill

Summary

Kitchee dropped points yet again in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Eastern, our fifth in the league this season. While Kitchee took the lead, and were the better team, they could not grab a winner. Luis Machado's second goal in as many games gave Kitchee the lead, before a controversial penalty awarded against Fynn Talley saw Baffoe equalise from the spot before half time. Both sides had chances to win it, with Kitchee arguably the more disappointed, having had the better of the second half.

Team news

Kitchee made five changes from last weeks draw. Talley, Law, Leon, Fernando and Mingazow came into the starting eleven, at the expense of Wang, Chen Ngo-hin, Helio and Temirov who all dropped to the bench, and Bae Jae-woo who came out of the matchday squad. Fernando captained the side on his first start since October, playing in a central midfield role, with Juninho on the bench after his injury sustained on international duty in December.

Talley; Law, Leon, Dantas, Jordan; Ngan, Rey, Fernando (c) (Poon 67), Machado (Juninho 84), Welthon, Mingazow (Temirov 26)

Match events

Felipe Sa and Marcos Gondra went close for Eastern early on, as Kitchee struggled to deal with the onslaught. After fifteen minutes, long ball forward from Jordan Lam played in Mingazow, who escaped the Eastern defence to tee up Machado to score his second goal in as many games. Ten minutes later, Mingazow was involved in a nasty collision, and had to be withdrawn for Temirov (later disclosed by the club to be fractured ribs), and Machado switched to the left wing. Just after the half hour, a long ball forward from Eastern saw Baffoe send an effort goalwards past Talley, with Dantas clearing it off the line. But the referee inexplicably blew for a penalty after a 'foul' by the English goalkeeper, which was duly converted by Baffoe. The first half finished without further incident at 1-1.

Hong Kong centurion Yapp Hung-fai had a very strong start to the second half, denying Temirov and Leon Jones with sublime stops. Jordan Lam's poor clearance and the resultant pinball played in Baffoe, but Talley kept him out, before Yapp got a fingertip on Ngan Cheuk-pan's glanced header. Substitute Poon Pui-hin hit the bar and came agonisingly close with an improvised effort after the ball was cleared. Another good low save from Talley prevented an Eastern cross finding Baffoe, before Anson Wong missed a golden chance to give the hosts the lead. Both sides will feel as though they could have won, but it is Eastern who leave happier, and Kitchee have one win in five league games.

Fan feedback

Yet again more points dropped, and the title is looking more and more unlikely, regardless of what happens next week in Tai Po. There is no presence in midfield; despite the good effort put in by Ngan Cheuk-pan and Aaron Rey, they are often pushed off the ball, and there are rumours of a new player coming in. The attack is toothless; Welthon has looked abysmal in recent weeks, and playing Temirov on the wing has never looked effective, and with Mingazow's injury looking serious fans will hope not to see this again. Machado scored again but was largely invisible, and Poon Pui-hin had a good cameo, going close to scoring. We would like to see a front three of Poon Temirov and Machado next week, with Welthon off the bench. We also saw Law Tsz-chun and Jordan Lam drifting into inverted fullback roles, although neither were particularly effective, and the same could be said for Fernando in attacking midfield.

Kitchee were dominant but with limited cutting edge. Defensively they are looking solid, and Dantas and Leon have a strong partnership, with Dantas being awarded man of the match. Talley's confidence is growing, and the penalty award was harsh, although overall fan view is mixed. Periods of Eastern pressure were nullified by the young Englishman in goal, who is starting to justify the risk taken at the start of the season.

What's next

Tai Po away next Sunday (26th) at 3pm. A huge game, where anything less than a win probably means the end to Kitchee's title challenge. Tickets will likely need to be booked in advance, and we will share the link when available. We will have to do without the services of Mingazow, who joins Tan Chun-lok and Jay Haddow on our injury list.

Match highlights

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Title ambitions hit another bump in the road with draw at Southern- Southern 1 Kitchee 1

By Adam O'Domhnaill

Summary

Kitchee drew for the fourth time in ten HKPL games this season, with Machado's second half equaliser cancelling out Jackson Sousa's opener. Welthon had the chance to win the game with a 97th minute penalty, but Ivan Ng's save meant the points were shared, and Kitchee's run of games without a win in the league after conceding first continued well into a fifth year.

Team news

Kitchee had four players ruled out with injury. Long term absentees Jay Haddow and Tan Chun-lok continued their path to fitness, while Juninho and Fernando were ruled out with minor knocks. Wang Zhenpeng replaced Fynn Talley in goal, and Chen Ngo-hin made his first Kitchee HKPL start, in Kitchee's first game for nearly a month, and first in the league since the end of November. Along with Wang, Machado made his first start since early November, and Ngan Cheuk-pan and Sherzod Temirov returned to the starting lineup. Tuscany, Law, Lung and Slattery dropped to the bench from Kitchee's last game, the 3-0 Sapling Cup defeat to Tai Po.

Lineup: Wang; Bae (Law 46), Helio (c), Dantas, Jordan; Ngan (Poon 73), Rey, Chen (Mingazow 46); Temirov, Welthon, Machado (Lung 85)

Subs: Tuscany, Law, Leon, Mingazow, Lung, Poon, Buddle, Slattery, Jason

Match highlights

Welthon had a header saved from an early corner, before Awal's ball over the top evaded the Kitchee defence to reach Jackson, who opened the scoring after nineteen minutes. Kitchee searched for an equaliser, with Temirov (acrobatically), Welthon and Machado going close, but they went in at half time 1-0 down. Cardoso, often criticised here and elsewhere for a lack of substitutions, made a double change, with Law and Mingazow coming on for Bae and Chen. 

But Kitchee's insistence on playing out from the back almost caused their downfall again, as a poor pass from Dantas allowed Jackson to drive forward, and shoot straight at Wang. Just before the hour mark, a lovely ball from Ngan found Law on the right, and his cross was turned in by Machado to level the scores. Southern substitute Merkies almost latched onto a ball in, and in the process caught Wang with his studs, and the veteran goalkeeper was less than pleased with the youngster. Ivan Ng kept out Temirov's deflected effort, and experienced Southern sub Acosta hit a long range shot, which Wang almost spilled in. Jordan Lam hit the post with his weaker right foot, before chaos ensued in the seven minutes of stoppage time. Good linkup from Law and Lung down the right saw the former's cross hit the hand of a Southern defender, and Kitchee had a lifeline to get three points. Unfortunately Welthon went the same way as goalkeeper Ivan Ng, and both sides went away with a point, but both will feel the three were there for the taking.

Fan Feedback

Kitchee were defensively poor, being regularly caught out being too cute playing the ball out, with the pace of Awal, Merkies and Jackson causing our defence trouble, especially the 'back two' of Helio and Dantas, as the fullbacks pushed on. That being said, Kitchee did get a point from a game where they were not at their best, and Welthon scoring the stoppage time penalty would have been harsh on Southern. Cardoso only made one sub in the cup defeat to Lee Man, and made changes and gambles that almost paid off; at the end Kitchee were in a 4-2-4, with Lung and Rey as the pivots. A lot of Kitchee's ineffectiveness can be partially put down to rust, with the club not having a competitive game in nearly a month. The team did show a good fighting spirit after going 1-0 down, and would have ended a long spell of not coming from behind to win had Welthon scored.

Cardoso made changes, with regular starters Talley, Leon and Mingazow all left out. These did not pay off, with Wang looking far from his best in goal, nearly spilling a shot in, Helio looking slow at the back, and Chen Ngo-hin being swamped in midfield, and ultimately withdrawn at half time. Kitchee lost the ball in midfield often; as has often been the case in Tan Chun-lok's absence, opposition midfields swarm to mark Ngan Cheuk-pan, and Aaron Rey and Chen Ngo-hin were also complacent and struggled under pressure. Kitchee showed shades of last season, with lots of questioning officials and not playing until the whistle, and were fortunate to win the penalty at the death. Southern sat deep for large parts of the game, and Kitchee had no answer for them. Welthon was often marked by two or three defenders, and Temirov out wide works hard but does not offer a threat from crosses.

What's next

Eastern away (18th Jan, 6pm, Mong Kok Stadium stadium) and Tai Po away (26th Jan, 3pm, Tai Po Sports Ground). Two hugely important games, where we will hope to have our injured players back. There is also talk of a new midfielder coming in, probably to fill the gap left by Tan Chun-lok's long-term absence, which seems set to continue. Also in January, some of Hong Kong's young players face off against Guangdong in the Hong Kong-Guangdong Cup, with the second leg at Hong Kong Stadium on the 22nd January. No current Kitchee players feature, but outgoing loanee Sohgo Ichikawa and a few players who spent time in our academy are in the squad.

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Hong Kong are EAFF qualification winners and mixed Sapling Cup performances

Credits to SportsRoad

By Adam O'Domhnaill

Summary

Kitchee closed out the year with two Sapling Cup ties, while five players were representing Hong Kong in the EAFF qualifiers. Kitchee beat HKFC but lost to Tai Po with a depleted squad for both, while for the internationals there was more joy, as Hong Kong won three out of three to book their spot in South Korea in 2025.

Kitchee 3 HKFC 1

There were eight changes to Kitchee's starting line up. Law and Bardanca came in for their first starts in two and three months respectively, while Matthew Slattery played for the first time since Southern away at the end of last season. Machado came off the bench for his first appearance in six weeks, and Seb Buddle made a short cameo off the bench for his first competitive appearance of the season. There were more minutes for our young players, and Mingazow temporarily returned from suspension, thanks to archaic HKFA disciplinary rules meaning that he would serve the second game against Tai Po a week later.

Tuscany; Law, Helio (c), Bardanca, Jordan (Buddle 82); Bae (Temirov 60), Lung (Machado 75), Rey; Mingazow, Slattery (Yeung 75), Chen (Wesley 60)

Unused subs: Wang, Dantas, Jason

First half goals from Law (his first goal for two years), Rey and Mingazow put Kitchee 3-0 up within the first half hour, with HKFC responding before half time after a sloppy pass from Helio. An uneventful second half saw opportunities for Kitchee to extend the lead, but also for Cardoso to rotate, giving squad players a chance to feature, and the game ended 3-1.

Mongolia 0 Hong Kong 3

Credits to SportsRoad

A routine victory for Hong Kong, with Juninho getting an assist for the opening goal. He played an hour as one of four Kitchee players to start, as Ngan Cheuk-pan (90 mins), Leon Jones (45) and Fernando (60) all continued to start for the representative team for the fourth game in a row.

Hong Kong 2 Chinese Taipei 1

As has become the norm under Westwood, 4 Kitchee players started- Leon Jones, Fernando, Ngan Cheuk-pan and Juninho, and Poon Pui-hin was an unused sub. Juninho set up former Kitchee striker Matt Orr's opener, before Chinese Taipei levelled on the half hour.  Hong Kong were under the cosh in the second half, but an 87th minute winner from Tsui Wang-kit (his first international goal) sparked absolute limbs amongst the Hong Kong fanbase, setting up a final against Guam. Unfortunately Juninho had to come off in the first half with a thigh injury, which ruled him out of the final and he faces a race against time to be back in time for Kitchee's first game of 2025.

Kitchee 0 Tai Po 3

5 players remained with Hong Kong, with Tan Chun-lok and Jay Haddow still injured, and Ruslan Mingazow suspended. Welthon coming in for Mingazow was Kitchee's only change, as Slattery moved out wide.

Tuscany; Law (Temirov 63), Helio (c), Dantas, Jordan, Bae, Lung (Machado 46), Rey, Slattery (Wesley 86), Welthon, Chen

Unused subs: Wang, Bardanca, Yeung, Jason

A weakened Kitchee side got battered by Tai Po on a cold Sunday night in Tsing Yi. Cheng Chin-lung went close early on, but then it was all Tai Po from there. Tuscany had to be in top form in goal to keep the game level in the first half, with a number of very good saves. Half time substitute Machado went close from a corner, before Tai Po centre back Marcao scored a great freekick on the hour. Kitchee lost possession on halfway shortly afterwards, with Tai Po able to carve through Kitchee's defence to double their lead. In the dying moments Igor Sartori easily cut inside from their left hand side to make it 3-0, and inflict Kitchee's largest competitive defeat in over a year. This defeat, in addition to the November draw with Northern District means the March Sapling Cup game against Eastern (also during internationals) is now a must win game.

Guam 0 Hong Kong 5

Credits to Nick Kung

Leon Jones and Fernando started, with Juninho injured (although still listed as a sub) and Ngan Cheuk-pan and Poon Pui-hin introduced as substitutes in the second half. A comfortable win for Hong Kong, who booked their place to South Korea in July for the EAFF finals. Leon Jones played the full ninety, Fernando played over an hour (before being replaced by Ngan Cheuk-pan), and Poon Pui-hin's fourteen minute cameo was his first international minutes since the defeat to Liechtenstein in October.

What's next

Kitchee next play on the 11th January, away to Southern. They will have Mingazow back from suspension, and hopefully Jay Haddow, Tan Chun-lok and Juninho will have fully recovered, or at least close to full fitness. Kitchee face Eastern (twice) and Tai Po in the three weeks after this, while a Hong Kong XI will have the two-legged Hong Kong-Guangzhou Cup to compete in around the same time, although this will likely involve our young players rather than our regulars.

Here at Angry Boundary Street we would like to thank you for your generous efforts in supporting our fundraising for Movember and the Hong Kong Cancer Fund. Across our two pages, we raised in excess of HK$8500 and moved in excess of 2000km.

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See you in 2025 for another year of interviews, transfer speculation and match reaction!