傑志亞冠盃作客柏雷素爾 一球僅敗對手

Kitchee put on courageous fight but fell short against Kashiwa Reysol in AFC Champions League group battle by the slimmest margin Making the long trek all the way to the city of Kashiwa in the Chiba Prefecture, Japan, Kitchee locked horns with Kashiwa Reysol on Tuesday evening for a tasty AFC Champions League 2018 Group E affair. The Blues put up a brave fight but fell just short against the home side, dropping a heartbreaking 1:0 decision. Kitchee’s Huang Yang and Fernando Recio both suffered recent injuries, forcing the Blues to come up with last minute changes accordingly. While Kitchee did enough to withstand Kashiwa Reysol’s attack in the first half, the Blues also had Fernando Pedreira coming close to opening the score, as the Samba schemer fired from the right wing. However, Shinnosuke Nakatani was in great position and managed to clear the ball way to safety. Both sides headed for the break with the game still goalless. After the interval, Kashiwa Reysol upped the pressure trying to break the game open. The home side finally took the lead on the 64th minute, when substitute Junya Ito found himself on the receiving end of a teammate’s centering pass and drilled the ball home. Kitchee was not going to give up and pressed for the equalizer. Midfielder Lam Ka-wai came close to tying the game but sliced his shot high above the Kashiwa Reysol goal, while Daniel Cancela’s cross late in the game ended up bouncing off the crossbar and went out of play, sealing Kitchee’s fate on the chilly evening. Head coach Alex Chu made it known to the gathering press about his appreciation for the Kitchee troops after the game. “I want to thank the players for their great work. It was a tough, away game but the players were all very disciplined and played fantastic,” Chu commented. “The home team is a quality side and their players all have great movements. They capitalized on the only mistake that Kitchee committed within ninety minutes and scored the game-winner. However, I am confident that Kitchee will come off this game as a better team and will keep improving.” Captain Lo Kwan-yee acknowledged the team played much more focused on Tuesday evening, leading to a much better result. “Compared to our first two games in the AFC Champions League group stage, this is definitely a much better performance,” Lo reflected. “Besides being much more focused, I think the fact that we have one more player in midfield for this game really nullified the opponent’s ground-attack from the middle.” “Regardless of how Kitchee’s AFC Champions League journey might end up, I hope the supporters will witness our continuous improvement.”