VAR saves Kitchee in hard-fought Friday night encounter

Article by Adam O'Domhnaill

Team news

Cleiton was suspended after five yellow cards this season, as Kitchee made nine changes from the Sapling Cup victory over Lee Man.. Sherzod Temirov made his debut up frontafter his transfer was confirmed in the week. Helio, Juninho and Kim Shin-Wook were not in the squad, possibly with an eye on the upcoming ACL fixture.

Paulo (Wang 78); Roberto (c), Gerbig, Russell, Shinichi; Igor (Lok 68), Scott, Mikael, Mingazow (Poon 84), Jantscher; Temirov (Fernando 78)

Match highlights

An early long ball from Mikael was bizarrely headed straight to Igor Sartori by Ng Wai Him the Southern goal, but the Brazilian winger was denied as Ng recovered. A long shot from Awal was almost spilled into the net by Paulo, but the keeper recovered to deny Stefan's close range follow up. Stefan then went for goal from twenty five yards out, but saw his effort go narrowly wide. Ju Yingzhi then almost scored from a corner, and as the first half went on Southern were posing more and more challenges for our defence, and were arguably the better side going into the break.

Jantscher's free kick in the box caused chaos but Southern put their bodies on the line and denied Kitchee a clear chance. Temirov came close to a dream debut, seeing his low effort palmed away. Paulo was clattered at a Southern free kick, landing awkwardly on his leg. After some treatment he was back. but his leg gave way as he looked to clear the ball from the box. He was unable to carry on, meaning a first league appearance for Wang Zhenpeng off the bench.  Yet another Kitchee cross was defended without much attacking potency, before Wang was called into action to hold onto Awal's powerful volley. Southern thought they had a dramatic late winner when Koto Kawase headed in a freekick, but the interventions of the officials and VAR meant that Kitchee escaped with a point. One point is better than none, but Kitchee have to be much more clinical if they are to defend the title from the Lee Man juggernaut this season.

Fans feedback

Disappointing to drop two points, but it can be argued VAR saved us from defeat after the late disallowed goal. Southern created lots of first half chances from distance, with them being granted far too much space outside the box, Awal in particular posing us problems. Kitchee could not finish their chances in and around the penalty area, and hopefully the signing of Temirov can help with this, although his recent statistics leave Kitchee fans sceptical. Temirov did have a decent debut, getting stuck into challenges and linking well with other attackers; he also had a good shot from distance. Kitchee are really feeling the effects of not signing a striker in the summer- Wookie has had strong contributions in his sporadic appearances this season, but his fitness is an issue. Friday night's game was Kitchee's first goalless league game since September 2021, and the last 0-0 since March 2021.

Paulo's knee injury will see him ruled out for a while. Wang Zhenpeng will have to step up in his absence, with Tuscany as his deputy. Yet again we saw Kitchee get yellow cards for dissent, with Mikael picking up his fourth domestic yellow card. Given that many of Cleiton's bookings were for the same offence, it is disappointing to see the players not learning any lessons. 

Kitchee can consider themselves extremely lucky to come away with a point, after Southern's late goal was not given by VAR. A seven minute check adjudged that Charlie Scott had been fouled by Koto Kawase- check out the footage here and make your own decision. Had the goal been awarded it would have given Southern their first league win over Kitchee since 2019, and understandably there was outrage from players, fans and coaching staff.

What's next

We next take on Jeonbuk Motors in the Asian Champions League on Wednesday night, at 6pm.Tickets are available on the door for $200, and the game will be broadcast on Hoy TV for those unable to attend.

Kitchee fans vs Jeonbuk 2018

 Having won the reverse fixture 2-1, and winning 6-0 on their previous visit in our 2018 ACL group match, Jeonbuk will be hopeful of a victory that increases their chance of progressing to the knockout stage. Jeonbuk are managed by Chelsea and Romania legend Dan Petrescu, and are currently fourth in the K League with a game to go. Their main attacking threat will likely come from Gustavo, a Brazilian with a goal every three games in his Jeonbuk career.

Dan Petrescu

The AFC scheduling the match at 6pm, despite Kitchee's attempts to move the kick off time, means we will have a smaller crowd behind us. Kitchee were always going to be the underdogs in their ACL group, but the two games against Bangkok showed definite signs of improvement. We will have to do without the suspended Poon and the injured Paulo, for what will be a challenging encounter. A win would be incredible, a draw would be a great result but defeat is most likely. Angry Boundary Street prediction: 3-1 to Jeonbuk.

Thanks to Jarly for the photos this week, find more here

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