Kitchee fall to first defeat of the season as change of system fails- Tai Po 1 Kitchee 0

Credits to Kitchee

Kitchee fell to their first defeat of the season on Saturday, with former Kitchee icon Lucas Silva's second half goal giving Tai Po a 1-0 win. Despite Kitchee pressure to equalise, Tai Po's defence held firm.

Team news

Brazilian centre back Matheus Dantas signed officially during the week, with Kitchee the latest stop on a journeyman career that started in top level Brazilian academies. He featured for the under 22s in midweek, and both came into the matchday squad for this week's game. Dantas, Tan Chun-lok and Mingazow came into the starting lineup for Fernando, Temirov (both benched) and Haddow (not in the squad). Cardoso also changed system for the toughest test of Kitchee's season so far; opting for a formation that varied between a 3-4-2-1 and a 3-5-2. Club captain Helio made his long-awaited return to the matchday squad; after also featuring for the under 22s on Tuesday he made the bench for the first time this season.

Talley; Ngan, Leon, Dantas (Temirov 67); Law (Fernando 46), Rey (Lung 67), Lok (c), Machado, Mingazow; Juninho, Welthon

Unused: Wang, Helio, Jordan, Poon, Chen, Buddle, Slattery, Jason

Credits to Scoop

Match highlights

Former Kitchee striker Lucas Silva was expected to be the main threat for Tai Po on a hot October Saturday afternoon, and he went close twice in the opening twenty minutes. Kitchee's first chance of note came on the counter attack; Juninho slipped in Welthon who went through Tai Po's defence with ease, but unfortunately for the away fans the Brazilian forward shot just wide of the post. Minutes later he went close again, some nice footwork setting him up for a powerful shot from outside the box that hit the crossbar. Kitchee had the better half, and arguably should have been at least a goal up, but could not make the dominance count.

Kitchee allowed Tai Po to get into too much space down our right hand side, and the resulting cross wasflapped at by Talley, but Igor Sartori ballooned his effort over the bar. This was met with ironic cheers from travelling fans, as he was largely unimpressive during his eighteen month spell with us, including missing an open goal in this fixture last season. Tai Po went close again, with Talley getting down low to deny Gabriel Pierini, before the linesman eventually flagged for offside. Talley tipped Igor's effort over the bar, before Tai Po broke the deadlock. Weverton took a free kick from halfway, which bounced in the box, and Lucas Silva easily outmuscled Ngan Cheuk-pan to score. Kitchee went close soon after; Mingazow, Fernando and Juninho combined neatly down the left, which sent Fernando through on goal. His low shot beat Tse Ka-wing, but Weverton's last ditch slide kept Tai Po's clean sheet intact. Mingazow and Machado also had chances to score late on, but that final scoring touch that had been so prevalent in recent weeks could not be found, despite Kitchee having the lion's share of possession in the closing stages.

Fan feedback

Tai Po has always been a bogey team in recent years, with Kitchee not winning there since 2018. It is clear why many fans of Hong Kong football back them to win the league, with a well-drilled side, an experienced manager, and a fantastic record at home.

Credits to Scoop

That being said, Cardoso's tactical gamble of switching to three at the back did not work. Kitchee could have stuck with a 4-3-3, moving Ngan Cheuk-pan into a more conventional role, and brought in another centre back. But there were undoubtedly reservations about putting Dantas or Helio, both without a senior game in months, into the side in a back four. The three at the back meant a very congested midfield and very little threat down the wings, with Kitchee having possession and chances but lacking the final end product.

Cardoso and Kitchee are still looking for the right balance in defence, with a switch to a back three
another change in front of young goalkeeper Fynn Talley. Other than the goal, where maybe he could have done better, he kept the scores level at 0-0 with a few smart stops, and there were less hairy moments with distribution. But Kitchee also got lucky when the defence (and Talley) failed to deal with a cross and former winger Igor Sartori missed from close range. Dantas showed good composure on the ball and passed well, but did have to come off the second half after getting injured, which we hope is not a sign of things to come. Welthon was bright, and went close twice in the first half, and probably should've scored when he was one on one with Tse.

Kitchee this season have placed an emphasis on building up from the back, with players with a high level of technical ability being favoured over physicality. Kitchee kept the ball very well, with Welthon being very technically good on the ball and bringing others into play. But at times we do look like we are trying to walk the ball into the net, rather than go a bit more direct. Against a tall physical team like Tai Po it may not have worked, but a change of tactic would have been nice, especially when they sat back to preserve their lead. 

The attacking quality has allowed Kitchee to go unbeaten throughout the first five games of the season, but fan fears that this would come unstuck against a top team were realised. The physical strength of Lucas Silva posed a threat throughout, as did the physicality in midfield that Tai Po have. Given the lack of height in the side, it was not much of a surprise to see a long ball played in and not dealt with, giving Lucas the chance to score, with Kitchee having no outfield players over six foot by the time of the goal.

Ultimately while fans are disappointed with the result there are positives, and on another day Kitchee come away with all three points. The first half was very good, and Kitchee deserved a goal for their dominance, but could not quite make it count. In the second half Tai Po grew into the came and caused problems for our defence, and Lucas Silva capitalised. Questions could be asked about the formation change, as not only did it make us a look a bit unbalanced at times, it also restricted who we could bring on- after Tai Po scored we had no one that Cardoso felt comfortable turning too to chase an equaliser.

Hong Kong International roundup

Leon Jones, Fernando, Poon, Ngan Cheuk-pan and Juninho all started in the 1-0 defeat to Liechtenstein. Fernando, Leon and Juninho retained their starting berths for the 3-0 win over Cambodia, with the latter scoring a late goal to go with his two earlier assists. Ngan Cheuk-pan came off the bench.

What's next

Same opposition, but different stadium and different competition. We face Tai Po in the Senior Shield at Mong Kok on Saturday, 6pm kick off.

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Match highlights- on.cc