Match summary
On a Wednesday night in Mong Kok, Kitchee overcame a stubborn Kowloon City to advance to theLeague Cup final. Leandro's retaken penalty in the first half gave Kitchee the lead, and proved to be the only goal of the game. Both sides had chances, with Leandro also having a goal ruled out for offside. The game ended somewhat controversially, with Kowloon City having penalty claims turned down in stoppage time.Team news
Kitchee made a number of changes from Saturday's league game against the same opposition. Enikar, Dantas, Ari, Lok, Kanda and Jordan came in, while there was also a debut for Myanmar youth international Tun Thurain. Bear was rested, while Beattie, Mingazow, Illarramendi, Lung, Juninho and Adrian dropped to the bench. Matthew Slattery returned to a senior matchday squad for the first time since mid-December after an ankle injury. According to transfermarkt, Cheng Chin-lung's appearance off the bench was his 150th for Kitchee, a great achievement for the academy graduate.Enikar; Riera, Jason (Beattie 74), Dantas; Ari (Mingazow 81), Lok (c), Kanda, Jordan; Thurain (Juninho 70), Kendy (Lung 70); Leandro (Adrian 70)
Unused subs: Wang, Illarramendi, Anson, Buddle, Slattery, Li Siu-hin, Liang Kui-chung
Match events
The game had a scrappy start- both sides had chances, Kitchee the better team. Just after half hour mark, Ari Lam played in Leandro, who was taken out in the box. His first penalty saved, but the keeper was off his line; Leandro duly scored the retake. Enikar made some great saves to Kitchee in the lead either side of half time. Early in the second half Jordan Lam went on a run from the left hand side and saw his effort saved. In the second half Kowloon City posed many threats against Kitchee's high line, but Kitchee arguably should have extended the lead. First, Leandro missed a sitter after a good cross from the left, and he later scored an offside goal, tapping in the rebound after Yumemi Kanda's strike from distance was saved. Substitutes Adrian and Mingazow combined with the latter denied. Kowloon City kept pushing, and they were extremely aggrieved not to have a late penalty. But Kitchee held on and advance to the final.Fan feedback
Ari Lam became the first teenager to pass 400 minutes in a season for Kitchee since Tuscany Shek, Jason Yuen and Matthew Slattery all did so in 23/24, albeit aided by the never ending Sapling Cup and the requirement for young players to play more in that competition. We saw Kanda used in a deeper role where he saw more of the ball; he went close with what would have been a superb goal before an offside Leandro poked in the rebound and ultimately it was disallowed.Enikar made some good saves, the defence looked a bit cagey, and the attack was a bit pedestrian at times. Kowloon City were a lot more physical than in the league game on Saturday which did take Kitchee some time to deal with. Kitchee have kept 10 clean sheets in 20 games this season.
Key players were rested- Bear was not in squad, Illarramendi was an unused substitute, while key attacking players had short cameos off the bench. Kitchee will be eyeing up a trophy and then continue the momentum to hopefully sealing the league trophy.
What's next
Kitchee go back to TKO on Saturday to take on Eastern in the derby (albeit the two sides no longer share a stadium). 3pm kick off. Hong Kong play on both the 26th and the 31st, although no final squad has been released yet. Kitchee then have a break from domestic action until the League Cup final against Lee Man, which while originally scheduled for the 6th April at Mong Kok Stadium, rumours have circulated that it could be played on the 7th April at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground. As always, this decision will likely be left until the last minute.Please follow us on social media to stay up to date with the latest Kitchee news. We are approaching 600 followers on Instagram and are at over 400 on Facebook. Facebook Instagram
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