Kitchee remain unbeaten in AFC Cup

Unbeaten Kitchee moved a step closer to the AFC Cup knockout stage after beating visitors Nay Pyi Taw of Myanmar 2-0 at Mong Kok Stadium on Wednesday night.

With Tampines Rovers of Singapore overcoming Indian side Pune 3-1 in another group H match, Kitchee, who have seven points after their latest victory, just need to beat the Myanmese side in the return match on April 1 to qualify for the round of 16.

"We won't get carried away by the result although we should have a great chance now with three matches left," said Kitchee coach Chu Chi-kwong. "We will approach the away match with caution, but having beaten them tonight should give us sufficient confidence.

"Indeed, I don't think the result is the most important thing as I want to see my charges improve with every match so they can become competitive in the region."

Striker Jorge Tarres, who missed a penalty in the early stages of the match, was not too disappointed after the encounter. "I did not score but my performance was not too bad. Perhaps because I had not trained for five days, that might have something to do with it," said the Spaniard, who only resumed training on Monday after recovering from measles that forced him to miss last week's match against Pune.

The striker showed no sign that he was lacking fitness as he sent the ball into the net as early as the third minute but that was ruled offside. However, Kitchee did not have to wait too long before getting the opening goal in front of a crowd of 1,800.

Tarres' through ball in the middle picked out another Spaniard, Juan Belencoso, who made no mistake with only the goalkeeper to beat after just eight minutes.

Kitchee should have extended the lead three minutes later, but Tarres, who scored 12 goals in the regional cup competition last season and a brace in their opening game against Tampines Rovers, missed from the penalty spot after Myanmar defender Obadin Aikhena was found to have handled the ball inside the box.