Poor first half but Welthon's second half brace rescues an important three points- Rangers 1 Kitchee 2

By Adam O'Domhnaill

Credits to Kitchee

Kitchee found themselves trailing at half time as Lau Chi-lok scored after the Kitchee defence failed to deal with a long ball. The second half was an improvement, but Welthon scored his first goals since late November to ensure Kitchee went away with all three points 

Team news

Luis Machado was suspended and Jordan Lam injured, and the pair joined Ruslan Mingazow and Tan Chun-lok on the sidelines. Law and Welthon came in, as Kitchee retained the 4-4-2 from previous weeks, with Law at left back, Juninho at right wing and Welthon and Temirov as a front two. Fernando captained for his 200th Kitchee appearance.

Talley; Bae (Haddow 90), Leon, Dantas, Law (Helio 80); Juninho (Poon 90), Ngan, Rey (Lung 45), Fernando (Chen 80); Welthon, Temirov

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

Match highlights

Ngan Cheuk-pan's driving run set up Temirov, who shot straight at the goalkeeper, and Juninho's attempts to acrobatically steer Fernando's cross towards goal met the same outcome. Kitchee were all over Rangers, and Welthon went close from a corner. Against the run of play, Rangers scored with their first real chance. A long ball from recent arrival Maxwell Ansan was flicked into Lau Chi-lok by Tai Po loanee Biteco. Biteco then received the ball back, lofting a pass over the Kitchee defence and Lau Chi-lok scored past Talley. Chan Kun-sun in the Rangers goal kept them ahead at the break, tipping over Juninho's header from Fernando's cross. Kitchee went in at half time 1-0 down, with many fans annoyed.

Credits to Kitchee

Half time saw the booked Rey withdrawn for Cheng Chin-lung after a poor first half. Ngan Cheuk-pan and Dantas hit tame efforts from range that were easily dealt with. But just under ten minutes into the half, another Fernando cross (this time on his right foot) was headed in by Welthon, who broke his goal drought of over five hundred minutes. This duo almost combined again after Fernando drove from deep, but Welthon nodded just wide. Just after the hour veteran captain Helio was introduced, and the team switched to a 3-5-2 formation. Bae and Fernando were used as wing backs, with Ngan, Lung and Juninho in the midfield. After seventy minutes, Juninho's cross was spilled by Chan in goal and Welthon reacted quickest to scramble the ball home, but the linesman's flag cut the celebrations short. After a brief interlude for a VAR check in the referee's earpiece, the goal was given, and Kitchee had twenty minutes to see out the win, with little action of note- one shot from Juninho that was saved. The late introduction of Jay Haddow marked the youngster's first senior minutes for Kitchee in over three months after a number of injury issues. A win is a win, but it was not pretty.

Fan feedback

A lack of tactical linkup in the first half meant we failed to score despite having the lion's share of possession. The partnership of Welthon and Temirov offered little connection, and Fernando was the only one offering any threat, with a number of good crosses into the box. The absences of Jordan Lam and Luis Machado greatly affected Kitchee's attacking build up- Law stepped in at left back but offered zero overlap, and Juninho was drawn centrally with not a lot of threat from Bae Jae-woo down the right hand side. Aaron Rey had his worst game in a while, with passes often going astray, and he was hooked at half time, with his replacement Cheng Chin-lung looking a bit more assured in his place. The returns of Machado and hopefully Jordan Lam next week will give us an attacking impetus we lacked this week.

The defence was exposed to a long ball over the top, allowing Rangers to score with their only real chance. A lack of communication compounded with poor positioning in defence and midfield left Biteco unmarked, who showed his quality to set up Lau Chi-lok, the veteran striker finding it far too easy to get in behind. Kitchee's build up from the back was poor compared to previous weeks, despite the increased consistency of selection- 8 players started for the third game in a row. Kitchee's lack of discipline was a concern, with five yellow cards, and those for Aaron Rey and Bae Jae-woo result in the pair being suspended next week. 

Kitchee keep up the somewhat positive momentum with a third win in a row, and will look to press on with two more with HKFC and Kowloon City next up. Tai Po are still out in front of the four-way title fight, but consistent performances from us will set us up well to challenge for trophies on three fronts.

What's next

Credits to Scoop

Hong Kong Football Club away next Sunday at 4.30pm. We will be without Mingazow and Tan Chun-lok through injury again, with Bae Jae-woo and Aaron Rey both suspended. Hopefully we have Machado and Jordan Lam back for a potentially tricky away trip, with HKFC beating Tai Po a few weeks back.

Match highlights

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