Kowloon City crumbles in big Kitchee win- Kowloon City 0 Kitchee 5

Kitchee extended their unbeaten run to four with a comprehensive 5-0 win away to Kowloon City. First half goals from Kitchee's attackingfront five put Kitchee in cruise control, and despite Mingazow's red card just before the break, Kowloon City offered very little allowing Kitchee to depart with three points and a clean sheet.

Team news

Jay Haddow, Tan Chun-lok and Luis Machado continued to be out, and there was a first start of the season for Poon. Poon, along with Juninho and Ngan Cheuk-pan returned to the starting lineup after international duty and missing the Sapling Cup opener. In all there were five changes from the Sapling Cup draw, with Fynn Talley in goal and Ruslan Mingazow on the left wing also coming in, with Tuscany Shek, Jason Kam, Cheng Chin-lung, Chen Ngo-hin and Sherzod Temirov all dropping to the bench.

Talley; Bae (Law 68), Helio, Dantas (Jones 62), Jordan; Ngan, Juninho (Lung 62), Rey (Fernando 46); Poon, Welthon (Temirov 46), Mingazow

Unused subs: Wang, Chen, Buddle, Tuscany, Slattery, Yeung, Jason, Wesley

Match highlights

While chasing a long ball forward from Ngan, Poon inadvertently injured Li Hon-ho, and the veteran Kowloon City goalkeeper was forced off injured. Soon afterwards, Juninho's cross was nodded across goal by Mingazow onto the head of Welthon, and the big Brazilian converted to score in back to back games. Another well-worked Kitchee goal doubled Kitchee's lead- Mingazow played a corner short to Jordan Lam, who played it back for Aaron Rey to curl in a sumptuous effort from outside the box. Juninho played in Poon on his first Kitchee start, who scored his third goal and put the game to bed. Poon then latched onto Ngan Cheuk pan's ball over the top to tee in Mingazow, who tapped in the rebound after his initial effort was stopped. Juninho battled hard down the right, playing a one-two with Poon before getting the ball back and making it five. Fynn Talley made a great stop from Kayron, and the half looked to be meandering to a close. But then a silly push by Mingazow knocked Ho Lung-ho to the ground, and as the Kowloon City defender lay over the ball Mingazow appeared to stamp on him, leaving the referee to send him off, after some fisticuffs from both sets of players. 5-0 halftime, and with Kitchee down to ten, there was a strong chance of a very slow second half.

Kitchee made two half time subs, with Rey and Welthon being replaced by Fernando and Temirov. Poon went close early on, before Juninho was fouled in the box around the hour mark. After a lengthy VAR check, with Temirov waiting to take the kick, it was ruled not to be a foul- on merit probably the right decision, given Juninho appeared to kick the defender first. Talley made two solid saves to keep the clean sheet in tact, including an incredible right-handed save to keep out Lam Hok-hei, before Poon shot straight at the goalkeeper. The sixth goal never came, but Kitchee were able to use the second half to test an all local defence for the first time this season (Law, Jones, Helio and Jordan) which ultimately held firm.

Fan feedback

A comfortable win and good to keep a clean sheet for the third time this season. Despite Kowloon City offering very little, Talley and the defence needed to be alert, and Talley's save from Lam Hok-hei was sublime. After going 5-0 in thirty-five minutes most fans expected the game to slow down a lot, even more so when Kitchee went down to ten. Much bigger games will follow, especially next week's Senior Shield semi final against Lee Man.

Kitchee used the second half well, adapting easily to ten men and playing more on the counter, utilising the energy of Poon, Lung and Temirov, while Fernando showed his experience with some nice attacking play. Poon had his best game in a Kitchee shirt for a while with a goal and an assist. He played a large chunk of the second half with an injury, staying on as Kitchee were already down to ten with all five subs already made. Tan Chun-lok's injury appears to be severe, ruled out until the start of 2025 at least, but if Ngan Cheuk-pan continues his current form and the confidence he has gained from being a key part of Ashley Westwood's Hong Kong setup, we will hopefully not feel the loss next week. We do have three tough away games in January- Southern, Eastern and Tai Po- so hopefully Tan Chun-lok is able to feature.

What's next

Kitchee take on Lee Man in the Senior Shield semi final next Saturday. 3pm kick off at Mong Kok Stadium. The league match the other week was feisty, and last season's semi final between the same sides saw a number of yellow cards and brawls, so fans will hope for more of the same. Jay Haddow and Tan Chun-lok are ruled out through injury and Mingazow through suspension. Fans will hope that Luis Machado is back available, with the Portugese winger not playing since the Lee Man fixture almost a month ago. Following that Kitchee have two Sapling Cup ties (at Hammer Hill and Tsing Yi, two terrible stadiums) before seemingly a break over Christmas, unless HKFA start the FA Cup or run another Christmas tournament like last season. Kitchee return to league action away to Southern on the 11th January.

Other news

Seven Kitchee players were called up to the 30 man preliminary squad for the EAFF qualifiers for Hong Kong's games against Mongolia and Chinese Taipei (and a potential final if they finish first in the group). Leon Jones, Helio, Poon Pui-hin, Fernando, Ngan Cheuk-pan, Juninho and Matthew Slattery were called up, with Tan Chun-lok not called up due to his current injury. 

Some of our fans are fundraising for charity throughout this month, moving as much distance as possible, and so far have walked or run over 850km already. More details are on our social media pages. If you'd like to support our efforts, please use the following links:

Movember 

Hong Kong Cancer Fund

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Thanks to Erikson for the photos

Match highlights