Two important wins for Kitchee, but football an insignificance considering recent events in Hong Kong

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill

Credits to SportsRoad

After the emotion of Hong Kong's elimination from Asian Cup qualifying a few weeks ago, Hong Kong football fans were disheartened. But the tragic events of last week's fire in Hong Kong reminded people that football is just a game, and puts life into perspective. Over a hundred and fifty people lost their lives, and thousands have lost their homes, and in the wake of a tragedy of this scale results on the pitch matter little. At Angry Boundary Street we offer our condolences to all of those affected and ask that our followers continue to support where they can the initiatives helping people rebuild their lives. We'll continue to share these on our social media channels, and please make us aware of any more that we can share or get involved with. Kitchee's game against Eastern District saw proceeds from the match go to the Salvation Army's fundraiser, and the shirts of players were auctioned off for large sums of money. Amazing to see the Hong Kong football community come together, with Tuesday night raising over HK$700,000. Offside.hk and HK Kickers  both went into more depth as to what different clubs and individuals have done for those affected.

Hong Kong played twice in the November international break, with three Kitchee players featuring. Veteran goalkeeper Wang Zhenpeng played 180 minutes for Hong Kong, making his return after over three years, and becoming Hong Kong's oldest ever player- a shock inclusion in the squad to begin with, and even more so when he started both games. Tan Chun-lok and Juninho were both rested for the friendly, and then played the full 90 in the defeat to Singapore which saw Hong Kong eliminated and Ashley Westwood depart. A number of Kitchee's younger players went away on training camps with Hong Kong youth sides.

Southern 2 Kitchee 4

Credits to SportsRoad

Illarramendi got a first Kitchee start, and came into the side alongside Dantas, Lung and Mingazow. Law, Jason and Adrian dropped to the bench, with Kanda left out of the side. Kitchee were depleted owing to a couple of injuries, and some of Kitchee's schoolboys not being able to play at the ridiculous kick off time of 3pm on a non public holiday Wednesday. This left Kitchee with only six players on the bench, with Pong Cheuk-hei still recovering from his summer shoulder surgery.

Wang; Lung (Law 67), Riera, Dantas, Beattie (Jason 67); Martinez (Adrian 60), Illarramendi, Lok (c); Mingazow (Chan 71), Juninho (Jordan 60), Kendy

Unused sub: Tuscany

Match events

Credits to SportsRoad

Kitchee had a couple of early corners that they couldn't capitalise on, with Illarra going close. Southern earned a penalty for handball against Dantas, converted by Stefan after 14 mins. As the half hour approached, nice hold up play from Leandro teed up Kendy for his third goal of the season. Kitchee scored a second soon after; Juninho kept the ball alive and recycling for Kendy to finish. Mingazow cut in from the right to score a third, before being fouled in the box minutes later. Leandro stepped up and it was 4-1 at half time. Southern pulled one back on the hour and had further chances, but Kitchee held firm in a drab second half. Kitchee's best chance to extend the lead came when youngster Chan Shing-chun blazed over.

Credits to Scoop

Kitchee 1 Eastern District 0

Kitchee made five changes as they played midweek, in an emotional evening for all involved given the previous week's events. Pong Cheuk-hei (Bear) came in in goal for a Kitchee debut after a lengthy recovery, and Jason, Jordan, Kanda and Adrian also came in. Mingazow dropped out completely through injury, with Wang also out of the squad. Beattie, Martinez and Juninho dropped to the bench. Jay Haddow recovered from injury to come onto the bench, as did four of Kitchee's young players given the more conventional kick off time.

Bear; Riera, Jason, Dantas; Lung (Juninho 46), Illarramendi, Lok (c), Jordan (Beattie 77); Kanda (Martinez 67), Adrian, Kendy

Unused subs: Law, Haddow, Tuscany, Li, Ari, Cheung

Match events

Credits to Scoop

Jordan was denied by a great save from Li Yat-chun, deputising for the suspended Paulo. Illarra made a great block to keep the score level. Kitchee's centre backs started bringing the ball out of defence but nothing was breaking down a resilient Eastern District, marshalled by Kitchee legend Helio. With the last kick of the half, Kanda scored a sublime free kick from just outside the box. As the second half began Kanda and Juninho both went close, before Illarra cemented his man of the match award with an acrobatic clearance off the line. Kitchee did have chances; Leandro coming closest when he blazed over the bar from inside the box. A gritty 1-0 win in emotional circumstances.

Fans feedback

Two games, two wins, and Kitchee this season have only lost once in ten games. They have five clean sheets already this season (only one fewer than last year with over the half the season still to come) and are showing the ability to win ugly. But there was a lack of fluency against Eastern District, and a more prolific opponent may have scored. Kitchee's attack looks very good when firing on all cylinders but sometimes flatters to deceive. Adrian's movement helps build attacks, but when he drops wide and/or deep we struggle to get other bodies into the box, and our attacks can peter out. Bear had a solid debut in goal, and his distribution is very good, and hopefully he helps us hit new heights. Jason Kam has come on so much in defence, either when starting or a substitute, and Jordan Lam has improved from last year, as he is used in a more favourable position. Asier Illarramendi was given man of the match on Tuesday and while he is probably not at 100% yet, he looks a class above everyone else. Kanda bounced back from being left out against Southern to score a sublime freekick, and the tactical fluidity shown by Calderon, mixing up formations and using players in different positions. This is a marked change from the rigidity shown by previous coaches, and hopefully Kitchee can continue this momentum.

What's next

North District away on 13th December, 3pm kick off in Sheung Shui. A big test against a team that have done well this season. They knocked us out of the Senior Shield in September and drew with us at Mong Kok in October. This marks our last fixture of 2025.

Angry Boundary Street had been raising money for men's health charities both in Hong Kong and around the world throughout the month of November. The team moved over 2000km and raised over HK$14000. Last week we decided to direct people to donate to the various organisations supporting those affected by last week's Tai Po fire and will continue to do so on our social media platforms. You can check out our pages here, but please direct your donations to more pressing issues in Hong Kong. We are extremely grateful for anyone who has supported our campaigning, but there are people in greater need of help.

Movember Hong Kong Cancer Fund

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