Kitchee beat South China on the afternoon of Mother’s Day to collect also the last trophy of the season. Goals from Lam Zhi-gin and Sandro helped the fresh Premier League champions to win the treble – as they did in 2014/15.
This happened in front of more than 5,000 people, which is another great attendance after last week’s surprising sell-out. But the fact that it was Mother’s Day didn’t stop the enthusiastic supporters on both sides to “pay special tribute” to someone else’s mother throughout the game.
Kitchee made one change to their recent starting line up, with cup game specialist Guo Jianqiao replacing Wang Zhengpeng as goalkeeper. Meanwhile, South China decided to bring Yusukue Kato from the start, who also scored the winning goal against Eastern in the FA cup semi final.
The Caroliners began the game aggressively. In the 2nd minute Nikola Komazec took a shot from the edge of the box, which went just wide. A few moments later, Marko Perovic found Komazec in the box, but the Serbian striker failed to make a finish.
Slowly, Kitchee gained the upper hand, but failed to cause any serious threats until the 29th minute. Lam Zhi-gin’s well placed shot from the edge of the box found the back of the net. Kitchee followed up with a number of great chances, but Sandro’s shot and Matt Lam’s free kick were both saved by Tsang Man-fai.
South China had a chance to equalise in the 40th minute, when Kato’s cross found Chu Siu-kei at the far post, but his shot went over the bar. As a result, Kitchee led South China by one goal before heading into the dressing room.
And similar to the big clash against Eastern in the last game of the season, Kitchee managed to extend their lead right after the start of the second half. Fernando’s pass found Sandro in the box, and the league’s top scorer got the ball past defence and goalkeeper.South China reacted with a substitution, with Mahama Awal replacing Marko Perorvic, and indeed, Awal’s pace proved to be a problem for Kitchee. The Caroliners produced some threatening chances. In the 65th minute, Chan Wai-ho’s header after a corner by Law Hiu-chung looked destined for the net, but Guo Jianqiao denied with an incredible save. South China finally got the goal in the 69th minute, when Awal sprinted past Dani and crossed the ball to Chu Siu-kei, who finished wit ha diving header at the far post.
Kitchee took out some speed after that, while South China continued to pressed for a goal, but to no avail. Kitchee managed to keep the scoreline unchanged and win the treble again, making the FA Cup their third (and last) trophy of the 2016/17 season after winning both Senior Shield and league.
Kitchee: Guo, Jianqiao [GK], Dani, Helio, Lam Zhi-gin (Tong Kin-man, 45+3 min), Fernando (Lo Kwan-yee, 83 min), Sandro, Jared Lum (Alexander Akande, 73 min), Huang Yang [C], Matthew Lam, Krisztian Vadocz, Kim Bong-jin
South China: Tsang, Man Fai [GK], Chak Ting-fung (Sean Tse, 51 min), Nikola Komazec, Chan Wai-ho, Chan Siu-kwan (Law Hiu-chung 64 min), Bojan Malisic [C], Lo Kong-wai, Yusuke Kato, Marko Perovic (Mahama Awal, 58 min), Chu Siu-kei, Leung Kwun-chung
Photos by Christopher KL Lau
