RHB Singapore Cup: Wasteful Talents sunk by Kitchee subs
Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.comA profligate first-half performance in front of goal by Beijing Guoan Talent came back to haunt them, as they were beaten 1-2 in extra time by Kitchee SC in the final RHB Singapore Cup preliminary round match on Monday evening.
The Chinese outfit went into the half-time break holding a one-goal lead, although they should have had more to show for their dominance than Li Tixiang’s early strike.
But their inability to convert those chances on offer invited Kitchee to hit back in the second period, and Cheng Siu Wai levelled within a minute of his substitute entrance.
Beijing’s efforts to get back in front were ultimately futile, and it was the visitors who triumphed instead with an extra-time strike by Michael Cheng Lai Hin.
Both Chengs interestingly started the game on the bench for Kitchee, as Josep Gombau went for a three-pronged attacking line featuring Edson Minga in the centre.
They faced a Beijing side that welcomed Tan Tiancheng and Wang Hao back into the starting eleven, after both players had been troubled by niggling injuries recently.
There was some noticeable inertia about the start of the game, and Kitchee took some time to get themselves going amid the humid and heavy air.
A few long-range shots and decent runs gradually got the game warmed up, though, and Beijing put themselves 1-0 ahead after 14 minutes.
A good run from Wang on the right culminated in a cross that Li managed to get his head to, and the ball flew into goal despite Kitchee’s Wang Zhenpeng getting his hand to it.
It was the first clear sign that the 26-year-old was not the most assured of custodians, and that should perhaps have been an invitation for the hosts to add to their advantage.
Tan spurned a golden chance on the break on 22 minutes, however, when he blasted well off the mark after stealing a step ahead of Francisco Perez, the only person manning the rear as Kitchee were attacking a corner.
Meng Yang was then guilty of another poor miss seven minutes later, after more good work from Beijing’s Wang led to a nice pass into the centre of the penalty area.
Li too ought to hold his hand up for sending a sliding shot over the crossbar ten minutes before the break, as time and time again Kitchee found themselves on the ropes.
Yet the visitors could have helped themselves to a decent shot or two had they shown a little more courage in front of goal.
31-year-old Minga, picked to play in this competition due to his experience, was particularly guilty of this, fluffing two great chances to equalise late in the first half.
Wide forward Chan Man Fai, who had a lively first half but could not manage an end product, fired into the side netting three minutes into the second period when everybody else thought he was certain to score from a tight but manageable angle.
Liang Zicheng too blew a chance for the visitors when he volleyed well over the bar on 52 minutes, prompting Gombau to prepare his first attacking ace on the bench, in the form of Cheng Siu Wai.
The former South China star entered the field for Chan on 66 minutes, and took less than 60 seconds to make an impact as he bundled the ball across the line after Lo Kwan Yee’s corner was not properly cleared by the Beijing defence.
More than just bringing the scores level, the goal prompted a clear change in the game’s momentum as Kitchee suddenly seemed the hungrier of the two sides on the field.
They nearly had a second goal to celebrate a minute later, but Ubay Luzardo’s effort was chalked off for what appeared to be a foul on goalkeeper Su Boyang by another player.
Gao Wen should then have done better with his free kick on 73 minutes than to blast it far up into the sky, but the visitors were looking better with every passing minute.
That description applied to custodian Wang as well, who at one point caught a low shot by Beijing substitute Zhang Ye and, for a moment, appeared amazed by his own work.
With five minutes to go before extra time loomed, Wang foiled Zhang again with a much more confident catch off the latter’s cross, and there was little to suggest the Talents could find a way to keep the night short.
Legs were quickly tiring for both sides, however, and Gombau decided to act first by replacing fading midfielder Baruc Nsue with Cheng Lai Hin two minutes into extra time.
The 24-year-old’s first contribution was to overrun the ball in the penalty area off a blocked Luzardo free kick, but it was clear what his coach wanted him to do.
His chance would come in due time, but frustration was mounting in the Beijing camp, and things came to a head on 98 minutes when a foul on the far side by Zhang Zhaohui prompted a quarrel between both sets of players.
Referee P. Pandian got in to break things up, but then proceeded to stun everybody by showing Yu Yang his second yellow card, resulting in a sending-off for the centreback.
Coming on the back of several needling moments between the two teams, and with a few more still to go, it was no surprise that the Chinese boys were losing focus.
That gave Kitchee hope of clinching a winner, and they duly did so nine minutes from the end of field play, when another Lo corner was allowed to float all the way to the far post.
There stood their No.19, who gleefully slammed the winner home, thus handing Beijing some painful punishment for their failure to take their chances when they were available.
Gombau: Weather decided our plan
Kitchee SC coach Josep Gombau was pleased his team rallied to a 2-1 extra-time victory over Beijing Guoan Talent in the RHB Singapore Cup preliminary round, after they were trailing 0-1 to a Li Tixiang goal in the first half.
Cheng Siu Wai and Michael Cheng Lai Hin got onto the scoresheet for the Hong Kong side, after both were deployed by Gombau as substitutes.
Playing in humid conditions was a concern for the Spaniard, who said that he designed his plan for this game with that factor in mind.
“We knew that for us, it’s very difficult to play in this weather, and we cannot play 90 minutes running a lot,” he acknowledged.
“So in the first half, we just tried to keep possession of the ball and not play at 100% intensity. Then in the second half, we changed our intensity.
“The other team scored one goal in the first half and had chances to score another, but we had one or two chances to score in the first half too. And that’s football; we know our limitations, so we chose to be strong in the second half.
“That’s why our two goalscorers stayed on the bench at the start, just like they usually do in Hong Kong. And they have been always effective when they come off the bench, scoring goals in the last 20 or 30 minutes.”
Kitchee will return to Singapore in September for the quarterfinals, where they will face French S.League outfit Etoile in a two-legged affair.
They may have a problem bringing back a squad similar to the one that overcame Beijing, however, as the Hong Kong off-season period from June to August is likely to see significant player movement in and out of the club.
Should the club’s new signings not be permitted to play for Kitchee in the quarterfinals due to registration rules, it would almost certainly put them in a disadvantaged position against Etoile.
“If I cannot change our player registrations for the next round, it is a big problem for us,” admitted Gombau.
“It’s the end of the season in Hong Kong now. We are signing new players, and some of the players now playing with us may be going to other clubs.
“We are going to Spain to enjoy a holiday until the middle of July, when we will return for our pre-season training sessions. We will come back here in September, and that is a long time.
“I really don’t want us to be unable to make a team for the next round. So I believe the club will check with the organisers about the registration rules.”
Talents coach Zheng Xiaotian acknowledged that his team’s profligacy in the first half was their undoing, as it allowed Kitchee to pull themselves level with just one goal.
He however added that he was uncertain about the validity of the equalising goal by Cheng Siu Wai, before lamenting Yu Yang’s dismissal in extra time for an incident in which he thought another Beijing player had a greater role.
“We had a lot of chances in the first half that we did not score from,” said Zheng.
“Had we scored from them and widened the gap, the players’ mental state would have been very different. Instead, it seems they were deflated after taking the lead.
“The key moment was when the other team scored their first goal. I wasn’t sure if it was a goal, the players thought they had kept the ball out of the goal, so when the referee blew his whistle, all of us were confused.
“We were again wondering what was going on when Yu Yang got sent off for getting a second yellow card. If anybody should have been booked then, it should have been Zhang Zhaohui, because he made the bad tackle that caused the dispute.
“Maybe Yu Yang didn’t watch his mouth when he wanted to clarify the situation, but that’s the way it is when men play football, passion and fire is all part of thes words.
“You can tell players to listen to the referee, but you can’t tell them to switch their heart off and tape their mouths up, because that’s not how any man should play the game. With incidents like these, I’ve to wonder whether this is really good for our football training.” game, and referees should understand that,” he continued, upset but still careful with his words.
“You can tell players to listen to the referee, but you can’t tell them to switch their heart off and tape their mouths up, because that’s not how any man should play the game. With incidents like these, I’ve to wonder whether this is really good for our football training.”
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