Kitchee SC 3-0 Churchill Brothers: Goan giants beaten by ten-man Hong Kong outfit

Kitchee 3 (Siu Kei 28, Tarres 31, 66) – 0 Churchill Brothers

Kitchee: Wang Zhenpeng, Fernando Recio (Fernando Recio 55), Zesh Rehman, Chu Siu Kei, Kwan Yee, Pablo Counago, Jorge Tarres, Huang Yang, Cheung Kin Fung & Chan Man Fai (Gao Wen 61).

Churchill Brothers: Sandip Nandy,Dharmaraj Ravanan, Lamine Tamba,Denzil Franco ,Raju Yumnam , Steven Dias,Lenny Rodrigues, Bikramjit Singh (Bineesh Balan 53), Tomba Singh (Sanjay Balmuchu 83),Henri Antchouet & Sunil Chhetri (Amandeep Singh 89)

Churchill Brothers’ second-ever AFC Cup campaign got off to the worst possible start, as they were beaten 3-0 by Kitchee SC at the Mong Kok Stadium in Hong Kong. Skipper Chu Siu Kei opened the scoring, while Spaniard Jorge Tarres bagged a brace for Kitchee, who were also reduced to ten in the second half when midfielder Huang Yang was sent off.

The absence of the injured Beto and Afghanistan international Balal Arezou saw Churchill coach Mariano Dias start India captain Sunil Chhetri alongside Gabon international Henri Antchouet. New signing Lamine Tamba was Dharmaraj Ravanan’s central defensive partner, while India internationals Lenny Rodrigues and Denzil Franco were also named in the eleven.

Kitchee were at full strength, with Pakistan’s Zesh Rehman starting in central defence, while there were also three Spaniards in their lineup, including former Spanish youth international Pablo Counago.

Churchill were keeping the ball well in the early stages, but Kitchee always looked more likely to score, with Sandip Nandy denying Kin Fung Cheng and Tarres.

The hosts went in front in the 28th minute when Siu Kei headed home Huang Yang’s well-measured cross. Three minutes later it became 2-0, as Tarres expertly broke Churchill’s offside trap before slotting past a helpless Nandy.

Churchill could have pulled one back before the halftime break, as Steven Dias tested Kitchee custodian Wang Zhenpeng and the goalkeeper also saved Sunil’s header from a Steven cross.

With an inexperienced bench, Mariano Dias didn’t have much options to change the game in the second half but he did introduce the more attack minded Bineesh Balan in place of central midfielder Bikramjit Singh.

Churchill seemed to have got a lifeline when Yang was given his marching orders after receiving his second yellow, and the Indian club nearly made the most of their numerical advantage as Balan hit the post.

That missed opportunity proved to be vital as Kitchee increased their advantage the very next minute through Tarres, who scored with a header.

At 3-0, there was no way back for Churchill although they did create some half chances. They will be hoping to have everyone available and perform much better against Indonesia’s Semen Padang in Pune on March 12.