[Post-Match Thoughts] Hard-fought Away Victory (Kitchee 1 Sailors 2)

Sorry this one took so long. After the game, we had to go celebrate our team’s victory away from home, and also experience for ourselves the sights and sounds of Hong Kong. I took an extended holiday after that with my parents, and brought them around to see Hong Kong as well.

Away days are special not just because of the football team that we follow, but also because it allows us to make friends with fellow football fans, and experience a different city. A win, is sweet, of course, don’t get me wrong. But I think the bonds forged on this trip would be no less strong even if we ended up losing this game.

That being said, we never looked like losing this game. We may have almost chucked away a 2-goal lead to draw at the end, but thankfully we managed to survive that late scare to take home three vital points. Another reason for this one taking so long is because I had to rewatch the whole game twice. When you’re in the away stands behind the goal, it’s not the greatest view and your thoughts can be skewed by what you perceive from that angle.

Clamping Down on Cleiton

The Kitchee fans weren’t lying. Cleiton is a magnificent player. He turns 37 later this year and yet he moves around the pitch elegantly, efficiently, and quickly. He was involved in almost everything that Kitchee did as play flowed through him. Obviously, the Kitchee players also sought to look for him at every opportunity.

But our Sailors clamped down on him, through fair or foul means. Whenever Cleiton got on the ball, one of Rui Pires, Diego Lopes, or Anu would be there, engaging him. Sometimes, even the rest of the players helped out. For example, Richairo loses the ball in the 15th minute, chases back a little, sees that it is Cleiton on the ball driving at speed, and gives him a little tug. Yellow card. Richairo does have a tendency to pull people back instead of running with them on defensive duty, but in this case, perhaps it is understandable.

It is no surprise to see that Cleiton was the most-fouled player on the pitch. He was fouled 6 times. The next most-fouled player was Law Tsz Chun (more on him later), suffering 5 fouls. Of the 4 yellow cards dished out to Sailors players, 2 were for fouls on Cleiton. Maybe there was a tactical instruction to stop him from being so influential, or maybe he just had a knack for sniffing out space in midfield and thus the players knew that he had to be stopped, by hook or by crook.

I think this was crucial in stopping Kitchee’s flow. Until Jantscher came on in the second half and tried to share the creative burden, I felt Kitchee was abit over-reliant on Cleiton being the sole source of inspiration.

Law Tsz Chun – Steady on the Right

I got many confused people tuning in to the broadcast and asking me why Kitchee was fielding a full foreigner lineup. The explanation is simple, quite a few of them are actually naturalised citizens because they have spent a long time in Hong Kong plying their football. A look at this recent Instagram post by Kitchee should make things clearer. They are all in the HK team.

Law Tsz Chun is the only Chinese-sounding name in the lineup and for that he gets my utmost respect – it must be difficult being the only local-born person in the starting 11.

This guy is someone to watch for the fans who are gonna head down to Jalan Besar for the return fixture in December. I was so impressed by him and his bags of energy down the right flank. Played at right wing in the first half, he became a right back in the second half when the coach made half-time changes.

His directness caused problems for us, and as mentioned above, he was fouled 5 times. Always showing for the ball, and never scared to take on his man, I felt he was the most influential player after Cleiton for Kitchee that night. In fact, sometimes he was the one who helped Kitchee escape LCS’s press in the first half.

He ended the night with an assist after his beautiful cross was headed in by Jantscher in the dying minutes of the game. but I felt his most important contribution was actually stopping LCS from making it 3-0. Just before half-time, with Kitchee in disarray, Richairo raced clear on the right wing, and it looked like 3-0 was inevitable because he had Diego Lopes running with him in support.

But Law Tsz Chun not only kept pace, he managed to deflect the pass inside towards his keeper, and they avoided a damaging 3rd goal just before halftime.

A fantastic performance from Law, and we will be watching him closely in the next game.

Zharfan Answers His Doubters

All season long, Zharfan has had his doubters. There were some moments where he could perhaps have done better, and sure, he’s no Hassan Sunny, but really, who is?

I’ve always backed him this season, because Hassan aside, I don’t think there’s a better local keeper in Singapore. And Hassan has moved on, so who else would I get behind besides Zharfan?

If you look at the saves alone, you might not think that Zharfan was overly extended against Kitchee. We’ve seen him make far more spectacular saves in the SPL – remember that double save against the Young Lions? However, I think his performance, taking into account his distribution and handling, were excellent. And in a must-win game where every mistake would prove costly? Just excellent.

Interestingly, the lead-up to both goals sees Zharfan feature quite prominently.

2nd goal

His contribution to our second goal is easy to notice – it was Zharfan’s quick thinking that saw him place a perfect drop-kick into the right channel for Lestienne to chase when most of the Kitchee players were still in our half. Of course, Lestienne still had to cut in and bait Onazi into a reckless challenge, but to set Max free so quickly was crucial to that goal.

1st goal

The second thing I mentioned was his handling. All through the match, he hung on to crosses, and caught most of the shots.

For the first goal, he comfortably clung on to the shot from Mikael. 13:09 was the timestamp that Mikael took the shot and Zharfan held on to it comfortably. By 13:37 and with the cameraman still focusing on Mikael after showing the replay of the shot, Zivkovic had scored at the other end. Catching it took the pressure off the team – and allowed him to distribute quickly to Hariss. The rest is history. Hariss with a sharp pass down the line for Chris who had taken off upfield, and his cross was then deflected into the path of Richairo. Crucial opening goal.

Said it before, will say it again, when Chris gets a cross into the box, things happen.

Back to Zharfan – his efforts were recognised by the Asian Football Confederation, as he was named in the team of Matchday 2.

Hard Work, Effort, and a Bit of Needle

Every single player deserves a big pat on the back for the shift they put in. You could see it in the their faces, and their body language.

Rui Pires embodied this – he had covered so much ground in the game, that at 94:55, after getting his head to a cross to clear it, he was slumped in his own box and had to be helped to his feet to defend the corner. When the final whistle blew, he collapsed on the turf, and just stayed there for a good minute or so.

Lionel, Super, and Hariss were just monsters in defence, and made it as hard as possible for anyone to get past them. We all know that 5 at the back promotes defensive solidity, but it still needed a good defensive showing, and that trio needs to be talked about individually –

Super

For someone who had been deregistered in the middle of the season for Bailey Wright to take his place, meaning that he had no first-team football of any sort to play to prepare for this game – it is unthinkable what he did in this game. We spoke to him after the game, and he said that he has hard to work even harder in training to reach the levels of his teammates.

He was so determined – and that showed in his aerial duels, winning all of them in the game.

Hariss

When you watch the full game – around the 40th minute you can clearly hear Hariss commanding the line and shouting out instructions to his teammates. This is nothing new for LCS fans of course. We always hear his commanding voice at the back, keeping his teammates in shape.

Whenever we speak to players, they mention how Hariss is very influential to the team. The thing about Hariss is – he has been there and done that. Hariss is the first Singaporean to win the AFC Cup (in 2015 with JDT), and he is undoubtedly the most experienced of the current campaigners when it comes to continental competition. On days like these, you can clearly see his experience shining through.

Lionel

I actually laughed a lot when I reviewed Lionel’s performance this game. He was his own “good cop, bad cop” routine.

If you watch Lionel in games, you will realise that he very often gets involved in verbal spats with his opponents. This match was no different.

In the 26th and 27th min of the game, Lionel pushed Junior to the floor. The first was perhaps an exaggeration by Junior, while the second was deemed a foul by the referee. Both times, Lionel stood over Junior and lectured him for diving. It was hilarious for us, but perhaps not so for Kitchee fans who started booing him. I feel like Lionel gets off on such energy. Well, whatever works for him.

But what made it even more hilarious was in the 39th minute, when Hariss fouled Mikael, Lionel came over to show care and concern for him, and then picked him up from off the floor. As I said – he is his own “good cop, bad cop” routine. Pay to watch a football match, get some comedy on the side. Never a dull day with Lionel.

Conclusion

There are so many more things that can be said about this game. I could wax lyrical about every player forever, but I’ll end by talking about the Kitchee fans.

From the broadcast you can hear that the Kitchee fans booed Onazi as the first half drew to a close. He had given the ball away twice in the closing minutes, and was also responsible for giving the penalty away. He was heavily criticised by the Kitchee fan we interviewed at the end of the game, and if I were him, I would not go check social media post-game. Even now, one week after the game, their posts still feature people discussing the game and how Onazi should be let go immediately.

However, let’s look at the positives. The Kitchee fans were so welcoming to us – they took us out for dinner and drinks the night before the game. When the final whistle sounded, I knew they’d be feeling crestfallen so I sought out the guys who brought us around, Edmund, Dickson, Tim, Calvin and others. They were too sad for an interview so I just gave them a hug.

We are on opposing camps – but the reason we spend money and time on our team is the same. It is borne out of an undying passion for football – and that is the true beauty of AFC football. It allows us to talk to people all over the globe and celebrate the commonalities and little differences.

On to more away days! In case you missed it, LCS is conducting another giveaway for tickets and accommodation to fly to Korea to watch the Sailors play against Jeonbuk. SailorFanTalk is proud to be officiallly onboard as judges of all the entries and we will be selecting the 8 winners together with the club. Join here!

On to our next game in the Cup!

Written by Eddy Hirono 

If you’d like to support the work we do here at SailorFanTalk, you may want to visit https://ko-fi.com/sailorfantalk and leave us a tip!