Three goals, three points, three games to go- Kitchee 3 HKFC 1

Match summary

Credits to Scoop

Kitchee recovered from going behind after a minute to beat HKFC 3-1. An early penalty put HKFC ahead, before Matheus Dantas finally scored his first Kitchee goal midway through the first half. As Kitchee fans grew frustrated, a header from Fernando and a delightful effort from Juninho (on his 50th appearance) secured all three points.

Team news

Credits to Scoop

After two weeks without a game, Leon Jones and Helio were both only deemed fit enough for the bench, and with Jay Haddow potentially out for the season, there was a first HKPL start for Jason Kam at the heart of the Kitchee defence. Jason and Dantas became Kitchee's eighth centre back partnership of the season. He was one of two changes, as Bae Jae-woo stepped in for the injured Law Tsz-chun at right back. Despite two appearances for Kitchee U22s, Kim Shin-wook remained absent from the matchday squad, Kitchee instead using Chinese goalkeeper Enikar Mehmud as the seventh foreign player. Mingazow and Tan Chun-lok remained out injured, with Poon Pui-hin and Welthon left out and very likely to leave.

Talley; Bae, Jason (Hin 76), Dantas, Jordan (Buddle 90); Machado, Ngan, Rey (Lung 90), Fernando (c); Juninho, Temirov (Slattery 84)

Unused subs: Wang, Leon, Helio, Enikar, Yeung

Match events

Credits to Jarly

Edgar Cardoso was not on the Kitchee bench, leaving fans to assume chairman Ken Ng had given coaching responsibilities to his assistants following news of his departure. It was later confirmed post-match that this was not the case, as he served a one match ban for being booked three times. HKFC came out of the blocks fast, and in the carnage Dantas took out Scally in the area. Veteran forward Leo Peres converted, sending Talley the wrong way, and Kitchee were 1-0 down with barely a minute on the clock. Not long afterwards Bae's poor clearance led to Yoshi Chan having a go from distance, but Talley got down well to deny him. After twenty minutes Kitchee equalised, Dantas rising highest at the near post to meet Machado's corner for his first Kitchee goal. Toomer denied Jordan Lam after the left back had dribbled past a few players. There was then controversy, as Jason Kam was very fortunate to not give away a penalty after appearing to block off Scally, but no VAR check was done. Kitchee continued to push, but found themselves level at half time, against bottom of the table HKFC.

Credits to Jarly

Talley had to get down well to deny Scally after he evaded Dantas, before Jason went close with a header. Fernando was inches away from giving Kitchee the lead with a curling freekick. With fifteen minutes to go Bae's long throw came out to Machado, who crossed for Fernando to head in, a beneficiary of substitute Jack Sealy falling over. Kitchee then made a couple of changes, with Jason Kam and Temirov coming off for Chen Ngo-hin and Slattery. As a result of the reshuffle, Ngan Cheuk-pan went to centre back, Fernando to a somewhat defensive midfield role, Machado to the left wing and Hin on the right, with Slattery through the middle. With a few minutes left Juninho drove forward and laid the ball off to Hin, who played it back. On his fiftieth Kitchee appearance, the Brazilian-born star faked the defense to score a lovely goal. Three goals and three points, and Kitchee had their first home win in seven weeks, and the first time Kitchee had scored in both halves since beating North District in early March.

Fans feedback

Credits to Jarly

Fans were fearful of Jason starting for the first time, but after a shaky start he grew into the game. Some players still look shattered and there is still sluggishness in the performance. Talley continued to make some important saves, and it is disappointing to see he has not been offered a new deal at this stage, as one of the few bright spots in our season. Our squad depth is being really tested with injuries and players being left out (seemingly as their time at Kitchee more or less up). This meant that our nine man subs bench had two goalkeepers, two half fit centre backs, and five players who played ninety minutes for the U22s in midweek, and we did not make a sub until the seventy-sixth minute. Fernando and Juninho both scored nice goals, amid uncertainty about their futures. The fanbase were pleased to see Dantas finally score. But on a few occasions, Kitchee players gave up silly offsides from freekicks, which have cost Kitchee at least a couple of goals this season, and just seems a bit lazy. Chen Ngo-hin's cameo was solid against a tired defence, with a neat assist for Juninho. Kitchee were far from their best but still got the job done, but it is a shame this has not been the norm this season.

What's next for Kitchee

A second trip to Tsing Yi to take on Rangers next Sunday, where they will look to win again. 4th place in the league is now mathematically confirmed, but it is unlikely we will finish higher. Three games left, and as these games go on we will likely see more speculation about incomings and outgoings, as well as a new manager.

Match highlights

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