Despite dominating most of the possession, Kitchee failed to break a stubborn Tuen Mun defence, who had goalkeeper Wei Zhao to thank for denying the league leaders on a number of occasions with acrobatic saves.

'It's always difficult when a match has to be decided by a penalty shoot-out,' said Kitchee boss Ken Ng Kin.

'We had a couple of chances, but Tuen Mun defended well throughout the match.

'Also, our defence was a bit shaky today, and that has to be improved as we are approaching the run-in in the league.'

Kitchee face TSW Pegasus in a crucial league clash on Sunday, followed by possibly the match of the season as they take on defending champions South China on April 3.

Kitchee, who are on 32 points, currently lead the Caroliners by one point in the standings, while Pegasus are in third place with 22 points.

'The league title remains our only hope of the season after losing in the FA Cup, and we must be very focused at this stage if we want to win the championships,' said Ng.

Neither Kitchee nor Tuen Mun were able to score in the regulation period before the match went into 30 minutes of extra time.

Although Leung Kwok-wai put Tuen Mun ahead in the 101st minute, Kitchee were back on equal terms with a spectacular goal from Lam Ka-wai four minutes later.

However, with no further goals, the match went to penalties, Tuen Mun triumphing after Liu Quankun failed to convert in the seventh round of spot kicks by hitting the post.