Lion City Sailors all at sea as Kitchee win comfortably.

Article by Adam O'Domhnaill

Team news

Credits to Dickson

Injuries and suspensions meant that Kitchee only had seventeen players available for the trip to Singapore, and made four changes to the starting lineup. Roberto and Helio came into the back four, with Lok in central midfield and Igor on the right wing. Mikael and Poon missed the game through suspension, Temirov was ineligible and Paulo, Juninho and Mingazov were injured, but there was a place on the bench for the injury-prone Kim Shin-Wook. Helio's appearance was his 20th in the competition, and extended his own record for the Hong Konger with the most games in the ACL.

Wang; Roberto (Law 62), Gerbig, Helio (c), Shinichi; Scott, Lok (Huang 76), Cleiton; Igor (Lung 88), Jantscher, Fernando (Kim 76)

Match highlights

Credits to Mikel (and Fernando)

Kitchee had the first chance of the match when a good ball in from Igor was met by Fernando, who had efforts with his left foot and a header saved by the goalkeeper. Kitchee continued to dominate the opening exchanges, with Jantscher and Lok both having good chances. Soon afterwards a cross from Fernando from the left hand side was headed into his own net by Chris van Huizen, under pressure from Igor, and initially given as offside. After a four minute VAR check, Igor was adjudged not to have fouled the Lion City defender, and Kitchee had the lead. Lion City Sailors started to come back into the game, with Zivkovic and Wright going close, but the Kitchee defence, aided by Wang in goal, held firm. Lestienne went close to equalising for Lion City with a freekick just before half time, but his effort went just wide. Kitchee were in the lead at half time, and for the first ACL game this season, had not conceded a first half goal.

Credits to Dickson

Lion City had the better of the chances early in the second half, with a couple of quality saves from Wang keeping Kitchee ahead. Fernando had a good chance to double the lead just before the hour mark, but his right footed effort went wide. Wang then pulled off a fantastic stretching save to deny Anuar's header; Roberto put his body on the line to challenge the Lion City forward in the air, and was forced off with a head injury. As the half went on Kitchee were in the ascendancy, with Shinichi and Cleiton having efforts blocked, before Jantscher headed wide. Charlie Scott played in Fernando out wide on the left hand side, and the Kitchee legend glided infield and into the box, before placing a low shot through Bailey Wright's legs and into the net to score his third goal in three games in all competitions, as the defenders stood off him. Jantscher had a great chance to score a third, but could not quite get on the end of Igor's cross, after Wookie had flicked on a long ball forward. Lion City Sailors had another couple of chances but the Kitchee defence held out for a clean sheet and a 2-0 win.

Fans feedback

Credits to Dickson

A good win to finish off the ACL campaign with four points, all of which came away from home. Losing all three home games was a disappointment, especially given the chances created. It is a shame that Kitchee's first ACL campaign with fans in five years is a campaign where Juninho and Wookie barely played a hundred and fifty minutes between them. Having an out and out striker available more often may not have secured qualification, but may have turned one or two of the narrow defeats into draws or even wins. Kitchee's attacking prowess was on display in Singapore, while the defence held firm, getting in front of shots, and Wang made some crucial interventions, helping Kitchee keep their first clean sheet since Paulo's injury.

Credits to Richard

Charlie Scott slotted back into the team very well for the final four group games, with his passing range and composure helping Kitchee go forward. Igor and Fernando were excellent in Singapore, with the former atoning for his miss against Jeonbuk with pressure for the opening goal and the latter scoring his third goal in three games. Wang rolled back the years with some athletic stops and good distribution. Lok made the most of a rare start with an all-action display in midfield, and proved why he should play in a midfield pairing with Scott instead of Cleiton, especially if Mikael is going to be pushed into more of a forward role. Oli Gerbig had one of his better games in a Kitchee shirt, and shows how much better our defence looks when his pace and strength is paired with the experience and nous of Helio or Russell, rather than playing the two more experienced centre backs together. Jantscher did not add to his four goals this ACL campaign, but held the ball up well and came close to adding a third. It would have been great to see the Austrian forward having more minutes playing off Juninho or Kim Shin-Wook, but the injury records of the pair meant this was not possible.

Credits to Dickson

Opposition teams came at Kitchee early on in the majority of games, knowing that Kitchee's lack of quality bench options would mean second half fightbacks would be unsuccessful. Due to the departures of Onazi and Damcevski, plus the various injuries and suspensions, Kitchee had six players on the substitute bench. Thankfully we were in control of the game, as if we had gone behind, we would have had similar issues to our other games, where we did not have enough options to chase the game. Hopefully the signing of Temirov and the naturalisation of Juninho  means we do not suffer the same problems domestically.

Finishing off the ACL campaign with a solid team performance and a clean sheet should galvanise the squad heading into the second half of the season. Players and staff will have learned a lot from the continental experience, and the team mentality has rapidly changed for the better. Bring on the rest of the domestic campaign, where we can hopefully win the league and maybe add a cup or two. 

What's next

Kitchee have a bit of a break before a Sapling Cup tie against Rangers at Mong Kok Stadium on 23rd December. By this point those selected for the Asian Cup will have joined up with the national team, so it will likely be a weaker team. There will also be a four team competition over the Christmas break, featuring ourselves, Lee Man, Eastern and Rangers. We play against Eastern on the 29th December, time to be confirmed.

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