Lee Man in must win game against Tainan City to keep slim AFC Cup hopes alive
- After losing opening game to Eastern 3-1, Lee Man cannot afford to lose points if last year’s semi-finalists want to qualify
- Led by Hong Kong coach Kwok Ka-lok, Tainan also keen to improve after losing to both Hong Kong clubs in same tournament last year
Lee Man must put behind them a disappointing performance against Eastern as they need to beat Tainan City of Taiwan to keep their slim hopes alive in the 2022 AFC Cup in Buriram, Thailand on Monday.
After losing Friday’s opening game to Eastern 3-1 in an all-Hong Kong affair, they cannot afford to lose points again in the three-team competition.
A victory over Tainan City would extend their hopes until the last game of the group on Thursday when Eastern meet the Taiwan Premier League side. If they beat Tainan and Tainan beat Eastern, all three teams will have three points before goal difference to decide the final outcome.
Should Lee Man lose, it will be the end of their campaign after reaching the 2021 AFC Cup Inter zone playoff final, or overall semi-finals while Eastern and Tainan will battle it out for the next stage.
“We did not perform well against Eastern but that is all history now,” Lee Man head coach Chan Hiu-ming said. “We have to forget the match as any professional side will have the same mentality. We could not change the result which has already happened.
“We will now fully focus on the Tainan match but again it will not be easy even if we beat them in the same tournament last year.”
Managed by another Hong Kong coach Kwok Ka-lok, Tainan aims to reverse the results of last year when they lost to both Lee Man and Eastern in the same group.
