Kitchee fall to first Senior Shield defeat in years with semi-final disappointment- Lee Man 2 Kitchee 1

Photo from HK Kickers

Kitchee fell to their second defeat of the season as Lee Man emerged victorious in the Senior Shield semi-final. Two defensive howlers meant the scores were level at half time, with Anier and Temirov the beneficiaries. Everton Camargo scored a brilliant freekick at the start of the second half, which proved to be the winner. Despite Kitchee pushing for an equaliser, the lack of depth off the bench proved costly, as a tired team failed to create many clearcut chances. The result meant Kitchee's attempts at winning three Senior Shields in a row were over, and Lee Man inflicted Kitchee's first defeat in the competition since November 2019, one thousand, eight hundred and forty seven days later, although this number is deceiving given that two seasons of the competition were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Team news

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Haddow, Tan Chun-lok and Machado remained out injured, with Mingazow suspended. Kitchee made two changes from last week's comprehensive victory at Kowloon City; Leon Jones replaced Helio at centre back and captained the club for the first time, and Temirov replaced Mingazow out wide.

Talley; Bae, Leon, Dantas, Jordan; Ngan, Juninho, Rey; Poon (Fernando 54), Welthon, Temirov

Unused subs: Wang, Law, Helio, Lung, Fernando, Chen, Buddle, Bardanca, Tuscany, Slattery, Yeung, Jason, Wesley

Match highlights

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After a pretty even opening, Lee Man were gifted the opening goal. Bae Jae-woo's poor back pass gave Lee Man a chance out of nowhere, with Anier reacting quickly to go one on one with Talley. Despite Talley's best efforts in blocking the shot, the ball still went in, and Lee Man had an early lead. Kitchee pushed forward, going close from a couple of set pieces, but only levelled in first half stoppage time. Two failed attempts by the Lee Man defence to clear the ball led to Lee Man's goalkeeper scrambling to keep the ball out, with Sherzod Temirov tapping in for his seventh goal of the season, and first for a month. 1-1 half time.

Photo by SportsRoad

The second half started disastrously for Kitchee. A silly foul gave Lee Man a freekick right in front of the box, and talismanic winger Everton Camargo stepped up and hit it into the top corner, despite the best efforts of Talley. Kitchee almost had a penalty around the hour mark, although after a VAR check it was not given, probably the right decision. Welthon hit a powerful effort straight at the keeper, although had the big Brazilian scored it would have been ruled out for offside. The rest of the second half passed without much incident; Lee Man posed threats on the counter, with Talley keeping out another freekick from Everton and he kept Kitchee in the game. On the other hand Kitchee were largely restricted to shots from distance and tame headers. The final whistle saw both sets of players and coaches involved in a ruckus, where players had to be restrained by their teammates.  

Fan feedback

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A defeat, our second of the season, and our chance of defending the Senior Shield again is gone. But that does not mean the game was all bad. Fynn Talley made some smart saves in goal, and is growing in confidence with each game. He was sold short by a poor back pass for Lee Man's opener, and did get a hand on the shot, and while he could not get near Everton's freekick for the eventual winning goal, it was very sweetly struck into the top corner. Also, as in our poor results early in the season, players seem genuinely upset with poor results, a marked shift in mindset from last campaign. The team got stuck in in a physical encounter and while they ultimately came off second best, the players are showing a willingness to fight for the shirt.

Photo by SportsRoad

However, there was limited creativity and width in Kitchee's attack. Aaron Rey, who has usually been so dominant in midfield, was closed down time and time again by Lee Man's midfield, especially once Wu Chun-ming came on at half time. There was sloppy passing all over the pitch too, giving Lee Man simple turnovers. While taking four first team players (Jay Haddow, Tan Chun-lok, Mingazow and Machado) out of most teams would make them noticeably weaker, in Kitchee's case there is no senior depth in key positions. Temirov and Poon were ineffective on the wings, and while Fernando added a bit more threat when he came on, Kitchee's attack was also affected by Welthon not looking 100% after being clattered early doors. The only tactical switch made really was Poon and Temirov swapping flanks- Juninho could have been used out wide to allow Temirov to play centrally, and in the closing stages Dantas could have been thrown up front to ask more questions of Lee Man's defence. 

Photo by SportsRoad

While young players have been getting some more league minutes than in previous years, Kitchee's bench of twelve featured a number of players who are clearly not trusted by Cardoso for anything more than Sapling Cup games, if at all. Without Machado and Mingazow we have very limited options in attack, and even if Juninho had been put out on the wing, the only central midfielder on the bench was Cheng Chin-lung, another player clearly out of his depth when starting regularly. Kitchee have six weeks until the next league game (a very tough January with Southern, Eastern and Tai Po away), and in that time need to develop some trust in the young attackers- hopefully we see lots of them in the two upcoming Sapling Cup matches. We may potentially bring in one or two new players, with Mingazow (end of contract, although some talk of a short term extension) and Bardanca (probable termination) two realistic departures; many fans wonder if Kim Shin-wook will also leave, although the Korean forward, without a game in almost a year, is still reportedly under contract until early 2026. Jay Haddow should get his Hong Kong passport over the coming months, giving us another versatile local player.

What's next

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Two Sapling Cup games at terrible stadiums. First up Kitchee play HKFC at Hammer Hill on the 8th, before travelling to Tsing Yi to face Tai Po on the 15th. Hong Kong also have two, potentially three EAFF qualifying games. Mongolia (8th, 6pm Mong Kok Stadium) and then Chinese Taipei (14th, 8pm Mong Kok Stadium). With North Korea's recent withdrawal, Hong Kong are favourites, and coming first in the group sets up a final with either Macau or Guam, ranked significantly below Hong Kong. Leon Jones, Fernando, Ngan Cheuk-pan and Juninho all made the final twenty man squad, and are likely to start, given that all four have played a key role in Westwood's four games so far. 

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