Kitchee punches ticket for Senior Shield semi-fina

Determined to reclaim the Senior Shield trophy, Kitchee put its firepower on full display on Friday’s Senior Shield quarter-final by defeating Hong Kong Pegasus 3:0, edging the opponent for the second time in seven days and punching its ticket for the semi-final. Kitchee started the game slow and it was Hong Kong Pegasus that came up with the more dangerous opportunities. In fact, the opponent had several glorious chances to break the game open through its lethal counter-attack but Kitchee goalkeeper Wang Zhenpeng was marvelous in goal and kept turning away the opponent. Near the end of the first half, Matthew Lam converted a cross by Lam Zhi Gin and fired the ball home at the near-post, putting the Blues in front. After the interval, Kitchee netted two quick goals to widen its lead. Matthew Lam first converted a penalty shot while Alessandro Leonardo connected with a Lam Zhi Gin corner-kick and headed the ball into the net, making it a 3:0 lead for the Blues. Afterwards, Kitchee came up with several more scoring chances but could not add to the score. At the end, the Blues managed to hold on to its lead and knocked the opponent out of the Senior Shield through a convincing 3:0 victory. Matthew Lam, who netted a brace for Kitchee in the victory, credited the team for generating so many scoring chances throughout the game. “Lam Zhi Gin created the first goal for me and then he got the team the penalty, which led to the second goal. My goals are a credit to the team’s hustle on the offensive end and I am just the lucky person who managed to convert those chances,” Lam said. “Before the game, I was focused on helping Kitchee to advance to the next round. After all, we have not done well in the competition for several years now. Everyone knew about the importance of staying focused throughout the match.” Lam Zhi Gin, who had a hand directly and indirectly on all three Kitchee goals, commented it was a more competitive game than last week’s encounter against the same opponent. “I definitely got more space to operate in the previous game against Hong Kong Pegasus. However, I am just happy to record my two assists and also got the team the penalty. It shows that I am slowly adapting to the local game and hopefully, things will keep improving,” Lam stated. “I know I have not played for a long period of time and it was not easy to play the whole game. I just want to thank the coach for keeping faith in me and supporting me.”