League

Wins for Eastern and Southern in Round 12

Southern ended their ten game winless streak against Dreams thanks to a first half strike from Marcos de la Espada, whilst Eastern put in a vastly improved display to put a dent in second-placed Pegasus’ league aspirations with goals coming from Vitor Saba, Ng Wai-chiu and Bruno Cesar.

SOUTHERN 1-0 DREAMS

Southern entertained Dreams at Aberdeen Sports Ground on Saturday afternoon for the opening Premier League fixture of the weekend. Marcos de la Espada’s goal in the first half proved to be the game-decider, as Southern went on to beat Dreams FC 1-0.

DATE AND TIME: Saturday, February 24th, 2018, 2:30pm

STADIUM: Aberdeen Sports Ground

ATTENDANCE: 487

 

 

EASTERN 3-0 PEGASUS

(Match report by Ben Bennett)

Eastern got their poor season back on track with a convincing result over Pegasus in front of 1353 fans at Mong Kok Stadium on Saturday evening.

The game was slow to get going and the first half was a scrappy affair with Lee Hong-lim coming closest for Eastern until Vitor Saba unleashed a 25-yard strike into the top right corner to put the Blues in front just five minutes before half time, giving keeper Leung Hin-kit no chance. The home side came out for the second half with a defensive approach looking to soak up the pressure and counter attack. The tactic almost backfired though, as Cheung Chi-yung struck the bar with a header almost straight from kickoff, but the defender could not force home the rebound.

Eastern’s goalscorer then had to be substituted due to a head injury suffered in the first half, but the Brazilian finally showed what he was capable of with an impressive display of passing and dribbling, capped off with the opening goal. With twenty minutes remaining Eastern sealed the points with two goals in quick succession to put the game beyond the Flying Horsemen. First the home side had wasted a great opportunity on the counter when presented with a 4 vs 3 situation in their favour, but it was not to go completely to waste as they scored from the resulting corner. Ng Wai-chiu rose the highest to meet a Ju Yingzhi corner to bounce the ball over the Pegasus keeper who will be very disappointed to have conceded so sloppily.

If the game was not over at 2-0, it certainly was four minutes later as the game mirrored Pegasus’ early season defeat to Rangers in that they were continuously getting caught on the counter, having committed too many players forward and having a lack of defensive pace to compensate, including Jean-Jacques Kilama making his debut. Excellent work shown by sub Xu Deshui left multiple defenders chasing shadows down the right hand side and the number seven squared the ball giving Bruno Cesar an empty net to roll the ball into and seal the game. Eastern had further chances to add extra panache to the scoreline, as Xu and Ju went close but it ended 3-0 and the Blues have now beaten the reds twice at Mong Kok Stadium following their early season meeting in the Senior Shield.

Next up for Pegasus is their last home game of the season against Lee Man as they try to get their season back on track, whilst Eastern are away to Dreams.

DATE AND TIME: Saturday, February 24th, 2018, 5:30pm

STADIUM: Mong Kok Stadium

ATTENDANCE: 1353

 

YUEN LONG 2-1 RANGERS

(Match report by Ben Bennett)

Yuen Long scored a last minute winner on Sunday, February 25th, to take the points against Rangers in the Hong Kong Premier League’s basement battle in front of 694 fans at Yuen Long Stadium.

All of the early play belonged to the Tangerines and the home side could have found themselves two or three goals to the good in the opening half. First Lau Ho-lam had an effort blocked five yards from goal after 15 minutes, before Everton Camargo ran 60 yards following a Rangers corner to blitz past two defenders, only to sky his shot over the bar when faced one-on-one with Wong Tse-yeung. Ten minutes before the break great play by Camargo down the right presented Walter Soares Jr. with a chance six yards from goal, but the Brazilian fired straight at the away keeper when given the whole goal to aim at.

Rangers sparked to life in the second half and could have taken the lead just after the hour, as new centre back Mauricio headed over from a corner when well placed. Less than ten minutes later though, it was Yuen Long who finally broke the deadlock and it came from a set piece. Yiu Ho-ming swung a corner over from the right that was met by Aleksandar Randelovic who netted only his second league goal of the season.

Looking to close the game out, the Tangerines were hit with a sucker punch with only six minutes remaining. Mauricio headed home via the post, following a deep free kick that was nodded on by his defensive partner Igor Miovic.

Not to be denied though, the Senior Shield holders roared back and took the points as substitute Lai Yiu-cheong latched on to a miscued clearance to fire across goal and leave Rangers staring down the barrel of relegation. The Blues are now a huge eight points adrift with only six games remaining and their next game is away to R&F who have won all three home games against bottom-half opposition.

DATE AND TIME: Sunday, February 25th, 2018, 5:30pm

STADIUM: Yuen Long Stadium

ATTENDANCE: 694

 

TAI PO 2-0 LEE MAN

Tai Po took on Lee Man at Tai Po Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon. The Greens opened the score in the 58th minute, when Igor Sartori connected with a teammate’s centering pass and easily headed the ball home from doorstep. Tai Po managed to double its lead in the 63rd minute, when Dhiego Martins was brought down inside the penalty area by Lee Man goalkeeper Felix Luk. Igor Satori took over the spot-kick duty and fired the ball into the net. The score stood towards the final whistle, as Tai Po defeated Lee Man 2-0 and claimed all three points.

DATE AND TIME: Sunday, February 25th, 2018, 5:30pm

STADIUM: Tai Po Sports Ground

ATTENDANCE: 676

 

KITCHEE 3-1 R&F

(Match report by Patrick Au-Yeung)

With five games remaining, Kitchee bolstered their chance of defending their Premier League title after defeating R&F by a score of 3-1 on Monday night, February 26th, at Mong Kok Stadium.

The home side rallied for three goals – two from Lucas Silva and one from Krisztian Vadócz – to overcome a 1-0 first-half deficit. It took them until midway through the second half though, as Lucas Silva made no mistake when facing Zhou Yuchen alone following a through-pass from Sandro. The Brazilian added an assist by feeding Vadocz, whose shot from the edge of the box turned into a potential game-winner in the 86th minute. Soon after, Lucas Silva scored his second of the night in stoppage time to seal the victory.

The Guangzhou-based visitors hardly found chances throughout the match, but stunned a relatively small crowd of 997 with a game-opener right before the break. Giovane da Silva orchestrated a counter attack with Tiago de Leonco, whose strike went past Wang Zhenpeng six yards away. Trailing by one goal, the Bluewaves worked hard for an equalizer. Jared Lum’s 25-yard effort beat Zhou, but was denied by the crossbar, so was Vadócz’s header after a corner by Diego Forlán. On top of those chances, Forlán only hit the side netting for his best chance of the night.

After collecting all three points, Kitchee now have a commanding 11-point lead over second-placed Pegasus and Tai Po, who each have a game in hand. Tai Po will host Kitchee this coming Saturday. However, Kitchee’s latest victory also came with a costly price, as key midfielder Huang Yang apparently injured his right thigh, forcing him to leave the game after 30 minutes and was seen limping back to the bench after a lengthy treatment. There were no words on whether he can play this weekend or in the ACL group game against Kashiwa Reysol scheduled for next Tuesday in Japan.

DATE AND TIME: Monday, February 26th, 2018, 5:30pm

STADIUM: Mong Kok Stadium

ATTENDANCE: 997

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