Kitchee Forced to a Dramatic Last-Minute Draw by R

Kitchee visited Eastern in Mongkok Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the latest round of the Hong Kong premier league fixtures. Although Kitchee opened the score early through a Juan Belencoso strike, the side could not hold on to its lead and allowed Eastern to equalize late in the game. The match ended in a dramatic 1:1 draw as both sides had to settle for a point in the premier league standing. Kitchee got off to a great start early in the game when Juan Belencoso put his side in front. However, the table soon turned afterwards as Eastern upped the pressure and started to dominate the game. Kitchee largely withstood Eastern’s siege in the second-half and just as it looked like the reigning premier league champion will get away with all three points, Eastern somehow equalized deep in stoppage time through a Festus Baise header. Head coach Abraham Garcia put on a brave face after the game and spoke about his team’s performance. “We started the game well but then slowly regressed. In the second-half, it became pretty much all defending for us. There is no doubt that Eastern is a strong side and has some good players. They pressed us high on the pitch and we were supposed to support each other but we simply did not react and ended up losing the ball,” analysed the Kitchee tactician. Defender Fernando Recio was lost for words after the game but still tried his best to offer his post-game reaction. “I cannot tell you how I feel right now,” said the towering defender. “I know the score is 1:1 but it feels like a loss at this moment. We defended hard and I thought we were going to see it through towards the end of the game. Unfortunately, we just could not hold onto the lead.”