Hong Kong Premier League: Kitchee survive late Lee Man fightback in 5-goal thriller
Inigo Calderon’s team open up 3-0 lead, get pegged back, just hold on for statement win in Mong Kok
Rejuvenated Kitchee survived a late Lee Man onslaught to claim a thrilling 3-2 victory over their big-spending rivals on Saturday.
Goals from Kendy Ikegami, Yumemi Kanda and Adrian Revilla gave Kitchee a three-goal cushion after 74 minutes at a sodden Mong Kok Stadium.
But Willian Gaucho’s deflected 83rd-minute strike gave Lee Man hope, and Kitchee right-back Law Tsz-chun turned a cross from Poon Pui-hin into his own net three minutes later to set up a grandstand finish.
Kitchee, though, survived a chaotic final 10 minutes to signal their title intent.
“I told the boys it would be a game of emotions, you score and think you’re great, then concede and think you can’t hold on,” Inigo Calderon, the Kitchee head coach, said.
“We had to do a lot of things right to get 3-0 up, but we had to keep doing those things … we let them back into the game.”