Goalless draw up North as Kitchee falter in final third- North District 0 Kitchee 0

Summary

A hot day in Sheung Shui saw Kitchee held to a 0-0 draw for the first time in over two years. A very attacking Kitchee line up could not find a way through, as both defences made clearances off the line, albeit neither goal was threatened regularly. The second half was marred by a potentially serious injury to Juninho, but he has been released from hospital and is on the mend.

Line up

Kitchee made four changes, and tweaked the shape to resemble a 352 formation, with Kendy slightly more advanced than the other two central midfielders. Kendy came into the side alongside debutant Victor Camarasa, Jason Kam and youngster Chan Shing-chun. Riera and Kanda dropped out of the matchday squad, with Tan Chun-lok and Jordan Lam dropping to the bench. Asier Illarramendi returned to the bench. Four Kitchee youngsters were away in Qatar for Asian Cup qualifying with Hong Kong under 20s; Chan Shing-chun would join the squad afterwards.

Bear; Dudu, Jason (Haddow 70), Marcao; Mingazow (c), Shingchun (Lok 38), Kendy (Juninho 60 (Lung 79), Camarasa (Beattie 70), Everton; Adrian, Obieta (Illarramendi 60)

Unused subs: Tuscany, Jordan, Ari

Match events

Vinicius Soares went close early on as Dudu failed to deal with a long ball, before Kendy played in Mingazow, whose shot was easily saved. The dangerous Vinicius tried his luck from long range, with Bear just about dealing with it, and the Brazilian got himself free on the right, but Granada's shot from the resulting cross was cleared off the line by Marcos. In a first half of few clear cut chances, North District were the better side.

North District continued their impressive play, with Jahangir Khan's cross from the left evading everyone on both teams. Having brought Tan Chun-lok on in the first half for youngster Chan Shing-Chun, Calderon turned to the veterans Illarramendi and Juninho to try and seize the iniative. Shortly after his introduction Juninho played a lovely ball through to Everton, who saw his effort saved. With twenty minutes to go Calderon switched to a back four, moving Juninho into the 10 role. NDFC dealt with a threatening ball in but only cleared as far as Everton; his dinked ball in was almost headed home by Juninho, but he collided with the post in a gruesome injury which required stitches. His replacement Cheng Chin-lung saw his late effort cleared off the line by Andy Wong, while Carles Paez had North District's final big chance, heading goalwards from a corner, but Bear was equal to it.

Fan feedback

It was a bit of a disjointed performance on Saturday, with Kitchee dominating possession but being unable to make it count and having very few clear-cut chances. The passing and crossing in the final third was largely poor- if Calderon wants to continue with two out and out strikers then the wide players need to improve their crossing accuracy. Kitchee cannot have Everton and Mingazow as the sole wide players, as they no longer have the engines to also do their defensive duties. We saw Vinicius Soares getting into lots of space down either side as the wingbacks were far too high up. Juninho had a bright cameo before his injury, while his replacement Cheng Chin-lung also did well and had Kitchee's best chance of the match cleared off the line. Kitchee starting so many attackers left the bench options limited, although the plan B of switching to a back four brought some bright passages of play.

Debut watch

Victor Camarasa. The experienced midfield had some nice touches and gave Kitchee a bit of impetus with Illarramendi and Tan Chun-lok on the bench. He lasted seventy minutes in his first game for four months, and his first start for well over an hour. With the wingbacks positioned so high he had his fair share of defensive work to get through, and he went about this diligently. 

What's next

First home game of the season against EDFC at TKO. 6.30pm kick off on 6th September for our first home game of the season. Kitchee will continue to be without five youngsters away with the under 20s. Juninho may miss out depending on how his recovery goes, given he had seven stitches put in last week.

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Photo credits SportsRoad

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill