AFC Champions League Kitchee finally savour League winning feeling with comfy win over Lion City Sailors
- Fernando’s fine solo effort and a first-half own goal earn Hong Kong side deserved win in Singapore
- Victory ensured Kitchee avoided ignominy of winless campaign in group stage
Kitchee belatedly showed their quality on the AFC Champions League stage, comfortably beating Lion City Sailors 2-0 in Singapore on Wednesday.
The Hong Kong champions delivered a controlled, clinical performance that was head and shoulders above the lethargic football they served up earlier in the competition.
Kitchee led from the 11th minute, when Chris van Huizen crashed a bouncing Fernando cross high into his own net. Fernando, a surprise omission from head coach Jorn Andersen’s Hong Kong Asian Cup finals squad this week, added the second with 13 minutes remaining.
Kim Dong-jin could well have left Jalan Besar Stadium with mixed emotions. The South Korean has overseen tremendous improvement since a calamitous display in the reverse fixture two months ago left Kitchee facing questions over the unity and direction of the club.
The only question concerned what would have been possible had Kitchee located their stride much earlier in a group stage that held few challenges.
And frustrations have been heightened by the fact this season’s domestic champions qualify only for a new second-tier Champions League competition, with the elite tournament reserved for 24 teams from the 12 best leagues in the region, of which Hong Kong is not one.
