Everton's second half goal compounds Kitchee's misery- Kitchee 0 Lee Man 1

Everton's second half goal condemned Kitchee to their third defeat in four in front of a crowd of over a thousand at Mong Kok Stadium. Both sides had later goals disallowed for infringements: a Lee Man second was pulled back for a foul on Bae, and Temirov's header was ruled out for an offside in the build up. It is now almost four years since we defeated Lee Man in the league, and a lack of activity on the bench and evidentially fatigued players on the pitch saw more criticism and anger directed towards Cardoso. 

Team news

Only one change from last week's big win over North District, as Law Tsz-chun came in for the suspended Jordan Lam. The injured trio of Welthon, Mingazow and Tan Chun-lok watched from the stands again.

Talley; Bae, Leon, Dantas, Law; Machado, Ngan, Rey, Fernando; Juninho (Hin 28), Temirov

Subs: Wang, Helio, Haddow, Lung, Poon, Buddle, Tuscany, Slattery, Jason

Match highlights

A nice Kitchee move down the left hand side early on saw Temirov get the ball on the edge of the box, but his first time effort went wide. Fynn Talley was called into action much more frequently than his opposite number, making good saves from Anier and Wong Wai as the first half went on. Kitchee's attack massively faltered when Juninho was withdrawn around the half hour mark, replaced by Chen Ngo-hin in what turned out to be Kitchee's only change of the game. This prompted a reshuffle, with Machado moving centrally in behind Temirov, and Hin going to right wing. 0-0, and all to play for.

Talley made another good stop as Lee Man were in the ascendency, and the away side took a deserved lead on the counter attack. Law Tsz-chun was caught in two minds and was far too close to Dantas, which allowed Paulissen to find Everton in acres of space, and the talismanic winger scored with a first time finish. Soon afterwards Lee Man thought they'd doubled their lead as another swift counter cut through Kitchee's non-existent midfield. Everton beat Bae to the ball (albeit illegally) and Anier had no defender anywhere near him before scoring; but VAR pulled it back for Everton's foul. From one of their few second half attacks, Kitchee had the ball in the net through Temirov, but again VAR intervened; Fernando's freekick was flicked on by Temirov, Ngan Cheuk-pan looped the ball back into the area and Temirov scored. VAR saw Leon Jones in an offside position, and he was judged to be interfering with play in the build up; being slightly in the goalkeeper's eyeline as Ngan played it across. Kitchee's only other chance at a late equaliser came from another set piece; Machado finding Dantas, but both his header and the resulting loose ball could not be forced in, however it was also flagged for offside.

Fan feedback

Ruben Amorim may be the most high-profile Portuguese manager at a level he is ill-equipped to be at, but Edgar Cardoso is worse, given he had the benefit of a full pre-season. Yet another game after the Kowloon City fiasco where he is terrified of making subs; his sole change on Saturday was injury-enforced in the first half, following on from the Tai Po defeat in the FA Cup (no subs after the 79th minute despite going to extra time) and the demolition of North District (one tactical sub when down to ten, but the remaining subs were not made until the closing stages when we were 5-0 up). While it is obvious that our remaining offensive players on the bench are not consistent enough at this level, and there is little need for an extra defender at 1-0 down, it is frankly disgraceful that Cardoso felt a tiring attack did not need any refreshing. Temirov, Machado, Rey and the 38 year old Fernando have played a lot of football in recent weeks, and it is becoming more and more apparent, with players looking shattered and at least one cramping up towards the end. Slattery looked bright in his short cameo last week (although we were 5-0 up) and even Poon or Lung would have refreshed the squad, and the potential introduction of Helio or Haddow off the bench might have facilitated a push to three at the back and more of an attacking threat. While against Tai Po Cardoso shoved Helio up front, there was no attempt to do similar with Dantas. It felt as though he had given up completely, and there is still no sign of activity in the transfermarket, despite obvious struggles in midfield and up front, although it is possibly a budgetary issue, with Kim Shin-wook's big wages undoubtedly affecting recruitment.

In addition to the fatigue, players look absolutely lost for ideas, relying on moments of magic or luck to get them through. There are no tactics, and the 4 wins earlier in 2025 are looking more fluky as the season goes on. The season is basically over, with faint hopes of a title challenge diminishing by the day, and the odds being stacked against us for the Sapling Cup. Lee Man were physically dominant, but also swift on the counter attack, and although Kitchee were better than in previous defeats, they offered very little to win.

What's next

Two internationals for Hong Kong; a home friendly against Macau and a crucial Asian Cup qualifier in Singapore. Leon Jones, Fernando, Ngan Cheuk-pan and Juninho continue their key roles in Ashley Westwood's squads. In between Kitchee have a must-win Sapling Cup tie against Eastern, but Jason Kam, Chen Ngo-hin and Matthew Slattery are away with Hong Kong under 23s in Myanmar. This game is Saturday 22nd, 6pm, Siu Sai Wan, and we will see some new young players on the bench, as Tuscany Shek and Tom Yeung are our remaining local under 22 players for the Sapling Cup, after Wesley Chan left in January for his university studies.

Match highlights

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