Wasteful in front of goal- Bangkok United review

Article by Adam O'Domhnaill

Kitchee line-up- credits to Kitchee

How we lined up

Kitchee lined up in a 4-4-2, which at times shifted to a 4-3-3 with Mingazow pushing further forward. Paulo; Law, Gerbig (Russell 90), Helio (c), Fernando (Shinichi 58); Cleiton (Sartori 59), Scott, Tan (Cheng 90), Mingazow; Mikael, Jantscher (Poon 75).

Igor Sartori returned to the bench after a month-long absence due to injury. Helio set a Kitchee record with his seventeenth appearance in the competition. Charlie Scott made his ACL debut. Tan Chun Lok's yellow card means he misses the return fixture.

Jantscher and Cleiton celebrate Kitchee's opener.

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Match highlights

Kitchee took the lead after seven minutes when Jakob Jantscher tapped into an empty net after Bangkok’s defence had failed to deal with Fernando’s long ball. Mingazow got into good positions, but no second goal came for Kitchee. Kitchee looked as if they would go into the break in the lead until some poor defending allowed Prince to equalise in stoppage time.

Early in the second half, a poor clearance from Paulo gave Bangkok the ball just outside the Kitchee box, and in his efforts to defend, Fernando handballed in the area, and Willen Mota scored the resulting penalty. Everton almost extended Bangkok’s lead, hitting the bar with a powerful header. Charlie Scott came close to scoring a powerful drive from way out that was well saved by Khammai in goal just after the hour mark. 

Going into the last ten minutes, Willen Mota missed a sitter after Kitchee again failed to clear the ball properly. Bassel Jradi was shown a red card after VAR for a reckless lunge on Mikael. Bangkok held out for the remaining time, as Kitchee could not get an equaliser, the best chance coming when Poon failed to divert Mingazow’s cross into the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Competition progress

Kitchee are on zero points at the halfway point of the group stage, and are effectively eliminated. It is fair to say fans were hopeful for more points at this stage of the competition. Kitchee had less possession than Bangkok, but had twice as many shots. The lack of an out and out striker, as feared by fans with Dejan’s departure, is proving to be pivotal in the ACL, with Kitchee having similar conversion problems against Lion City Sailors.

Talking points amongst the fanbase

Even by the shambolic standards of Hong Kong football, the game was poorly attended, with just over two thousand fans in attendance. Playing at Mong Kok Stadium would pose a more intimidating atmosphere for our opponents, and tickets could be cheaper than the $200 per game for adults.

Just as against Lee Man, Kitchee conceded goals either side of half time, which changed the course of the game and Kitchee did not look like coming back and winning. Lee Man had been dominant, and the late first half goal to put them back into the lead was deserved. However, the Bangkok game was much more disappointing, as although Bangkok are a much stronger side, Kitchee were looking like the better team until poor defending either side of the break allowed Bangkok to capitalise. Part of this can be attributed to the squad fitness levels, with some players coming back having played a large part for Hong Kong, and other players either playing one Sapling Cup game or not played at all since the Lion City match.

Kitchee have now lost three games in a row in all competitions. In the 2022-23 season, they only lost six games; two in the ACL, two in the league and two in the Sapling Cup. Already this season, Kitchee have lost five of their first ten games in all competitions. This has been a very poor start by Kitchee's standards, and hopefully a more normal November fixture schedule can enable staff to manage player fitness levels, and help players reach the high standards we as a fanbase know they are capable of.

What’s next for Kitchee

Sham Shui Po, Sunday 29th October, 3pm Mong Kok Stadium. A chance to bounce back, ideally with a comprehensive victory. Last season’s two league fixtures were won by a combined 17-0. Hopefully we can be more clinical on Sunday and get our season back on track. Hope to see you there.

Photo credits for this article are to Lemon Kin. His photos from the game are here.

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