Kitchee starts new season brightly with victory ov

Reigning premier league champion Kitchee took a healthy step towards retaining the title on the opening day of the new premier league season. The Blues defeated arch-rival Eastern Long Lions 1:0 on Friday evening, courtesy to a fine strike from Krisztian Vadocz, while collecting all three points from the thrilling encounter. Kitchee relied on long-bombs in the first half to threaten the opposing goal. However, missiles from Jared Lum and Kim Bong Jin both failed to find the intended target. New signing Lucas Da Silva almost put Kitchee in front early in the second-half, when the burly striker connected with a Matt Lam cross but headed the ball just wide. On the 71st minute, Kitchee pressed hard in the opposing end and forced the opponent to a turnover. Krisztian Vadocz picked up the ball, muscled his way into the Eastern Long Lions box and coolly finished off the attack with a clinical finish. Vadocz’s goal proved to be the difference of the game, as Kitchee held onto the lead and nailed down a 1:0 victory over Eastern Long Lions. Kitchee head coach Alex Chu acknowledges the team did show signs of nervousness in the game but is glad his troops did just enough to pick up maximum points. “The opponent fought tooth and nail with us last season in the title run-down and maybe that caused us to be a bit nervous in the game,” Chu explained. “At the end, we utilized our pressing game and capitalized from our scoring chances. I thought we did quite well on those fronts. It is a long premier league season and we need to have stability going forward. We are not going to read too much into one victory.” Midfielder Krisztian Vadocz, who netted the match-winner on the evening, believes the three points gained from the match will have a positive influence in the premier league title-chase. “We all knew this would be a difficult game and both sides did have chances to win,” reflected the elegant midfielder. “There are only eighteen games in the premier league season and any slip up will put a dent on your title dreams. Therefore collecting all three points from the evening is bound to be a great help to our title chase.”