Kitchee stagger towards the end of the season- North District 2 Kitchee 2 and Tai Po 3 Kitchee 0

Match summaries

Photo by Scoop

Kitchee continued their post-champions slump by giving up a 2-0 lead to North District and losing 3-0 to Tai Po. Against North District, first half penalties from Leandro and Junior were pegged back by a penalty from top scorer Samuel Granada and a stoppage timelong shot from Law Hiu-chung. A week later Kitchee returned to Tai Po, and were defeated 3-0 by the usual tenants; an early first half brace from Patrick Valverde and a free kick from Kitchee legend Fernando condemned Kitchee to their first game without a goal since the penultimate game of last season, and Kitchee's three game winless run is the longest since January 2025, albeit with the league wrapped up weeks ago fans are not too disheartened.

North District 2 Kitchee 2

Team news

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Roger Riera and Asier Illarramendi were out injured, with Jay Haddow, Kendy and Tan Chun-lok all suspended for yellow card accumulation. Ruslan Mingazow and Callum Beattie both came onto the bench, along with seventeen year old Poon Wing-kei. Juninho captained the side from the start for the first time, having taken the armband at half time the week before. Tun Thurain made his league debut off the bench.

Bear; Ari, Dantas, Jason, Jordan (Beattie 89); Kanda (Thurain 72), Chan Shing-chun (Li Siu-hin 72), Leandro (Mingazow 82); Merquelanz, Adrian, Juninho (c) (Anson 72)

Unused subs: Wang, Law, Lung, Buddle, Slattery, Liang Kui-chung, Poon Wing-kei

Match events

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Leandro went close early on, before Dantas was outmuscled by Granada, who fired wide. Granada missed another good chance, before Paez hit a long range freekick wide. Kitchee grew into the game in the closing stages of the half, with Leandro scoring a penalty after being fouled, and captain for the day Juninho doing the same moments later. In between, youngster Chan Shing-chun went close from outside the box.

Just after half time Arboleda was taken out by Bear, and Granada converted the penalty, before Adrian hit the bar with a header. North District continued to push; Weverton forced two good saves from Bear, while Granada missed a sitter and had two goals ruled out for offside. In stoppage time good holdup play by Granada (with some shouts for handball) saw the ball make its way out to Law Hiu-chung, whose shot found the net and gave North District a point.

Fan feedback

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Kitchee had a number of absentees, and started two teenagers in a league game for the first time since May 2019. It was a better performance than the week before, but yet again Kitchee were not clinical enough, with Adrian's header the only chance of note in the second half. There was a bit of a disconnect between defence and attack, although with the caveat of midfield duo Tan Chun-lok and Asier Illarramendi missing- the first game without either starting since September. There were a lot of minutes for fringe players, with Anson Wong, Li Siu-hin and league debutant Tun Thurain getting around twenty minutes off the bench.

Tai Po 3 Kitchee 0

Jordan Lam and Ruslan Mingazow were both suspended, with Roger Riera and Asier Illarramendi still injured, who were joined on the injury list by Kendy and Thurain Tun. Jay Haddow and Tan Chun-lok returned from suspension to start. Chan Shing-chun earned a second successive start.

Bear; Dantas, Jason, Haddow; Ari (Beattie 63), Lok (c), Chan Shing-chun (Li Siu-hin 63), Merquelanz (Anson 63); Kanda (Lung 63), Juninho (Leandro 63)

Unused subs: Wang, Law, Enikar, Buddle, Slattery, Poon Wing-kei

Match events

Photo by David

Valverde scored a nice first time shot from the edge of the box in the third minute, after good work down the left by Igor, with Kitchee failing to track him. He doubled the lead ten minutes later, evading Kitchee's defence to head in Fernando's cross. Juninho and Tan Chun-lok went close, before Bear saved a cross with his legs. Adrian Revilla blasted over from close range as Kitchee went in 2-0 down at half time.

Kanda picked Fernando's pocket, but his shot was blocked. Ari's great cross was headed wide by Juninho as Kitchee sought a way back. Bear saved from Philip Chan, before Fernando scored a freekick from out wide that bounced low; in between these two incidents Kitchee made a rare quintuple substitution. Adrian scuffed a shot sideways, and Kitchee fell to a 3-0 defeat.

Fan feedback

Photo by David

Fans aren't too bothered with another defeat, as players achieved the main goal of winning the title, and with absences and rotations different combinations are being tested. But some of the attack is far too static and Kitchee had very limited chances. The quintuple substitution gave nearly half an hour to fringe players, but still Law Tsz-chun and Matthew Slattery did not feature. Conceding two goals early put Kitchee on the back foot, and they never really looked like getting back into the game. Adrian Revilla is looking shattered up front, and still spends far too much time outside of the box. Anson Wong and Li Siu-hin added some energy, but Kitchee succumbed to a heavy defeat without much attacking threat.

What's next

Photo by David

One game left. We take on Eastern on the 17th May at 6pm at Tseung Kwan O to wrap up a league-winning season. The players will be presented with the trophy at this game, so get yourselves down to celebrate.

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North District highlights

Tai Po highlights