Kitchee have had a terrible week. First they were stunned at home by Kowloon City, for the first defeat of 2025. First half goals from Aaron Rey and Juninho had Kitchee in a comfortable position. But after Cardoso withdrew the pair and Fernando with an eye on Saturday's cup game, Kowloon City burst into life, scoring three goals in five minutes, and Kitchee had no response, falling to a 3-2 defeat, their first in the league after scoring first since March 2020. Kitchee's week got worse on Saturday, where 2-0 up after 26 minutes became a 3-2 defeat after extra time. Fernando and Temirov scored in the first half, before Philip Chan pulled one back just before half time. A side devoid of ideas stumbled towards full time, eventually playing a 5-4-1 to try and see out the game, but 83rd and 115th minute goals from Philip Chan completed his hat trick, leaving Kitchee fans absolutely fuming, especially as it seemed Cardoso refused to acknowledge tired legs or the need for attacking impetus.
Kitchee 2-3 Kowloon City
Team news
Matheus Dantas was suspended, but Leon Jones was fit to start after coming off at half time at HKFC. Tan Chun-lok and Ruslan Mingazow remained out. Aaron Rey returned to the starting lineup, alongside Helio and Chen Ngo-hin, with Jordan Lam and Bae Jae-woo coming onto the bench.
Lineup: Talley, Haddow, Leon, Helio (c), Law (Jordan 78); Chen (Machado 78), Ngan, Rey (Lung 46), Fernando (Poon 60); Juninho (Welthon 60, Bae 86), Temirov
Unused subs: Wang, Buddle, Tuscany, Slattery, Jason
Match highlights
Kitchee went close early on, with Chen Ngo-hin getting on the end of Fernando's cross, but was unable to divert it in. A lovely long ball forward from Haddow found Juninho who ran through to score, but a lengthy VAR check pulled it back for offside. Pinball in the Kitchee box saw a number of bodies go down, and a Kowloon City penalty was awarded (overturned by VAR) around the half hour. Aaron Rey opened the scoring after a pass from Fernando, and Juninho doubled the score in stoppage time with an outrageous overhead kick (also assisted by Fernando), as the teams played ten additional minutes owing to both VAR checks.
As the clock ticked towards seventy minutes it seemed as if Kitchee would stroll to victory- there was very little offered by Kowloon City, and Kitchee had chances to increase their lead, while bringing off Rey, Fernando and Juninho with Saturday's FA Cup quarter final in mind. Kowloon City then pulled a goal back with a low shot from the edge of the box, and barely a minute later Gaucho was left unmarked at the far post to equalise. A complete collapse, and absolutely embarrassing, but it was about to get worse. Within five minutes, Kowloon City took the lead, a long throw finding its way to Kayron who found it far too easy to score from the edge of the box. Luis Machado and Jordan Lam were sent on to chase the game, but any chance of a draw (or win) was damaged by Welthon's collapse, later ruled to be a concussion, with the Brazilian taken to hospital, which gave us the opportunity to use a concussion sub, but Bae Jae-woo was preferred to Slattery, despite the desperation for a goal. Helio was pushed up front as an extra body, and the captain's knockdown should have been buried by Poon Pui-hin, who missed a sitter. Kowloon City almost scored a 4th on the counter attack, but Talley got down well to keep it 3-2. A shambolic collapse and the players should hang their heads in shame.
Fan feedback
There are no words to describe how embarrassing the second half collapse was. Kitchee should have been completely out of sight, but allowing our opponents a route back in to the match was awful. There has been too much reliance in recent weeks on moments of magic in attack. Ngan Cheuk-pan massively exposed in central midfield, as he tries his best as our sole central midfielder but has limited support. If the club want to, they have until the end of March to bring in another body, although Tan Chun-lok is on the mend and hopefully available in the coming weeks. There is far too much complacency in the side, which after allowing North District to come back into the opener and earn a point, we had hoped had left the side.
Cardoso was complacent in bringing off Rey, Fernando and Juninho with an eye on the FA Cup (and the route to ACL2 qualification), and the replacements did not deliver- a decision that looks even worse considering Saturday's capitulation. While we can understand the rationale behind the subs, the mentality of the team was not there to see out what should have been a comfortable win. Credit has to go to Kowloon City for capitalising on poor defending and achieving arguably their biggest result as a HKPL team.
Welthon was withdrawn following a nasty collapse, and fans were relieved to hear he was released him hospital prior to Saturday's game. Questions have to be asked about the impact of his initial clash of heads while the game was still 2-0- if there were signs of concussion then, he spent at least fifteen more minutes on the pitch before collapsing. Back to tactics- it was stupid of Cardoso to then use the additional concussion sub on bringing on Bae, rather than Slattery as an attacking option. There is no point in the U22 league if Kitchee's striker at this level is not used in a game when we are desperately chasing a goal, and instead we bring on a full back and put a thirty nine year old centre back up front.
Kitchee 2 Tai Po 3
Team news
Dantas returned from suspension, but Welthon was absent through concussion. Kitchee made four changes (Bae, Dantas, Machado and Jordan in for Haddow, Helio, Law and Chen) as they sought to bounce back from Wednesday's embarrassing collapse.
Talley; Bae, Leon, Dantas, Jordan; Machado (Law 79), Ngan, Rey, Fernando (Helio 63); Juninho, Temirov
Unused subs: Wang, Haddow, Lung, Poon, Chen, Buddle, Tuscany, Slattery, Jason
Match highlights
Kitchee had the first big chance of the game when a long ball down the left found Temirov. His effort was saved by Tse Ka-wing, and Juninho's effort on the rebound was blocked. Fernando opened the scoring from long range not long afterwards for his fourth goal in six games, and ninth goal contribution this season, all of which have come since the away win at Tai Po. Not long afterwards, Temirov looped in a header from Jordan Lam's free kick and Kitchee were coasting. Valverde had Tai Po's first chance of note, firing wide from outside the box. As the game came towards half time, Philip Chan evaded the Kitchee defence to head in at the far post, and you could sense the nerves amongst the Kitchee fanbase following Wednesday. The goal revitalised Tai Po, with Bae Jae-woo having to clear off the line. Kitchee had one more chance in the first half, with Temirov and Fernando battling for the ball, but Fernando couldn't get any power on the header and the chance faded.
Kitchee started the second half with a golden chance. Dantas played a long ball up to Temirov, but the Uzbek was denied. It then became the Tai Po show- Talley made great saves from Philip Chan and Lee Ka-ho as the league leaders chased an equaliser. By this point, Kitchee had withdrawn both wingers and set up in a 5-4-1, offering absolutely nothing going forward. After more Kitchee inability to deal with set pieces, Philip Chan scored an inevitable equaliser, and extra time beckoned.
Despite Kitchee playing over a hundred minutes on Wednesday, Cardoso did not freshen the team up for the additional thirty minutes, despite a number of players warming up for most of the second half. Tai Po continued to have all of the ball, with the only 'attacking' move being to move Helio into midfield- not a great look for the youngsters on the bench that a thirty nine year old centre back is preferred to join the attack. Habib went close and Weverton hit the post after Bae failed to clear, but Kitchee did absolutely nothing in extra time, opting to play for penalties with six defenders on the pitch. Once again Philip Chan found space in the box and seal the comeback in the 115th minute, and once again Cardoso did nothing, not sending on Poon, Chen or Slattery in an attempt to drag the game to penalties. Another humiliating collapse, and the players and staff have a lot to answer for, both for the complacency shown on the pitch and the lack of changes when the side were clearly knackered and bereft of ideas.
Fan feedback
Another game, another embarrassing collapse. This result in isolation would be bad enough, ending another possible route into ACL competition. But considering Cardoso essentially sacrificed Wednesday's result to focus on Saturday, it looks even worse. The players looked complacent, and while it is understandable some players tired after playing almost 250 minutes in 72 hours, the refusal of Cardoso to make any changes cost us. Yet again, there was limited attacking threat- Fernando's outrageous longshot breaking the deadlock, and Kitchee had almost no shots after the 50th minute. The injuries to Fernando and Machado did not help, but from the 80th minute to the 120th minute no changes were made. It has often been the case this season that there is a lack of trust in the bench, and this was made apparent on Saturday.
The long term injuries to Tan Chun-lok and Mingazow have affected our depth, and no serious attempts have been made by the staff to bring in replacements- Lok has been injured since early November, and we have looked overrun in midfield as Ngan Cheuk-pan tires from being our only midfielder. Whether the subs could have been fresh legs in extra time at 2-2, or as an attempt to rescue an equaliser in the dying moments, they were not used. Similar happened in the Senior Shield defeat to Lee Man, when Cardoso only made one sub throughout the whole game. Fans are never going to fault the likes of Helio for their years of service, but twice in two games our attempts to chase the game have been to put him up front, rather than using actual attacking players sitting on our bench.
If the Kitchee staff wish to bring in reinforcements, they have until the end of the month, but it seems stubbornness off the pitch, and a refusal to change tactics and personnel on it, have caused our season to more or less come to an end in early March. It will take a miracle to win the lead, and we still have to play four games against the teams above us in our final nine. For us to have any chance of silverware we have to first overcome Eastern in the Sapling Cup group stage with a depleted side owing to Hong Kong duty, and then win a semi final and a final. The 2009-10 season was our last without a major trophy, going back to 2008-09 if you ignore the Community Cup (Hong Kong's equivalent of the Community Shield, which has not been a part of the Hong Kong calendar for years). Fan frustrations were boiling over, with angry fan reactions at full time having to be mediated by assistant Nando Recio. Time will tell if Ken Ng gives Cardoso until the end of the season as there is no obvious replacement within the coaching setup, unless technical director Jordi Tarres (who holds a UEFA Pro Licence) is moved into an interim coaching role. Something needs to change- despite the unbeaten start to 2025 only ending this week, performances have not been good enough, with the side regularly over-reliant on moments of brilliance to bail them out, and there is no clear tactical philosophy.
What's next and other news
North District at home in the league on Saturday 8th, where anything less than a win surely means Cardoso is fired. Nine Kitchee players were called up to the home friendly against Macau and the World Cup qualifier away in Singapore taking place later this month. Leon Jones, Helio, Jordan Lam, Poon Pui-hin, Tan Chun-lok, Fernando, Ngan Cheuk-pan, Juninho and Matthew Slattery will be hoping to make the final 23.
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