Kitchee bounce back with important 3:0 win over Lee Man

Following last week’s dismal showing against Southern, Kitchee had a chance for redemption as they lined up against Lee Man on Sunday.  Knowing that nothing but a win would do, Kitchee produced a comprehensive performance and ran home 3-0 winners.  

Following a weekend of surprise results, the victory means that the Bluewaves move back up to joint third in the table and are again only 2 points off the top spot. 

How did they line up?

Alex Chu made a number of changes following the upset against Southern.  At the back, Alex Smith was brought in at Centre Back for his Kitchee debut, Helio returned to the starting line up and Law Tsz Chun started at right back - Recio (who went off injured against Southern), Tong Kin Man and Li Nga Hoi all made way with only Dani Cancela surviving from last week's game.

In midfield, Vadocz returned to the starting 11 following his mysterious injury last week and was joined by Huang Yang and Ju.

Up front, Tadic made way and Jared moved forward to play alongside Lucas and Fernando. 

On the bench, we had debutant Clement Benhaddouche, returning youth player Tiger Harima, Matt Lam, Tong Kin Man, Cheng Chin Lung, Jordi Tarres and Guo Jiangqiao. 

How did it pan out?

Photo by Leo Photo Story

Kitchee were favourites from the start of this match and looked to get on the scoreboard early on but were initially thwarted by Lee Man goalkeeper Yuen Ho-Chun.  

The opener nearly came after 15 minutes when Lucas picked up a great ball from Vadocz.  The burly Brazilian burst into the box and, after some great footwork, manage to pull-off a fantastic shot which was pushed away by Yuen. Kitchee were denied again after 27 Minutes, when Vadocz unleashed a powerful shot from distance only to see Yuen palm the ball away. The breakthrough did finally come after 43 minutes when Vadocz turned provider, picking Lucas out in the area. Lucas, who had missed a couple of good chances already in the half, unselfishly chose not to shoot and instead played the ball sideways to teammate Jared Lum.  The bearded Australian took his chance well finishing low into the net, just out of the reach of diving ‘keeper.  1-0 Kitchee.

Photo by Leo Photo Story

It had not all been plain sailing for Kitchee in the first half and, prior to Lum’s opener, Lee Man arguably had the best opportunity to take the lead. Despite the Kitchee back line looking much improved with the addition of Matt Smith alongside Helio, a defensive mix-up after 24 minutes left Stefan Pereira in plenty of space on the right hand of the Kitchee area.  Pereira played a ball great through ball to Michael N’dri who cut back inside and unleashed a great curling shot.  Most Kitchee fans thought they had surrender the lead again, only for the French striker to be spurned by goalkeeper Wang Zhenpeng. A lucky escape and one that changed the game.

Right before the half-time whistle, Lucas could have increased the lead even further after finding himself unmarked in the area following a fantastic ball from Ju.  The Brazilian turned and unleashed a great shot but the Lee Man ‘keeper did enough to just about keep it out of the net, with the dropped ball luckily also eluding the onrushing Fernando.  Kitchee’s top scorer let out a loud scream of frustration knowing that he had missed another great chance.  Kitchee went into half time with a 1:0 lead.

Photo by Leo Photo Story

Following half time, both sides traded opportunities without either team really carving out another clear-cup chance. However, the face of the game changed after 76 minutes when Lee Man were reduced to 10 men following a red card for midfielder Ngan Lok-fung.  Kitchee quickly capitalized on the numerical advantage when debutant Clement Benhaddouche (who had come on for Law Tsz Chun) picked up the ball on the wing and swung a lovely cross towards Lucas in the box.  The Brazilian made no mistakes this time, finishing well and giving Kitchee that valuable 2-0 lead.  The Striker almost scored again from another Clement Benhaddouche cross but could only put his diving header over the bar.

Kitchee put a touch of class on the result with a 3^rd goal late in the game when Lucas came up with his second assist of the match.  Picking the ball up on the edge of the area, he ran forward into the opposition area, cut in and played the ball sideways to Fernando. F7 took a step to the right before shooting back across the 'keeper into the left hand side of the net -  3:0.  A great goal on what was a great performance by Fernando.  

Thoughts?

We'll only know at the end of the season how important this result actually turns out to be but at the moment it feels huge! With Kitchee’s attentions now turning to the cup competitions for the next 3 games, fans and players alike will be glad to have kept their title aspirations alive following the slip-up versus Southern.  Going into this break only 2 points behind, rather than 5 or 8, could prove to be a real fillip in the story of the season.

Thanks to the draw between Eastern and R&F, Kitchee's task in the league is simple now - win their games and they will win the title. However, this is probably more easily said than done particularly when Kitchee have so many away games in the second half of the season.

The game was particularly encouraging as we saw good debuts from Matt Smith and Clement Benhaddouche and it was fantastic for Jared Lum and Fernando to add to their scoring tallies this season. Lucas had a "Lucas day" where he missed many more than he scored, on another day he could and should have had a hatrick, but he contributed in other ways with two fantastic, unselfish assists.  The performance of Law Tsz Chun was also excellent, frequently overlapping from the back and giving the midfield a real option of an attacking ball forward. 

The only downside was the injury to Huang Yang. Let's hope that Captain Fantastic can return soon. However, Matt Lam put in his best display of the season deputising for over 60 minutes.

Let's hope we can continue this form into the Senior Shield final on Saturday!