Citizen blow chance to steal top spot

After enough fun and games to fill a fairground in Mongkok on Saturday, Citizen were unable to take the chance to become the unlikely leaders of the league yesterday as the matches in the Wun Pau Stadium proved as entertaining as algebra.

The newly promoted side were held to a 1-1 draw by Sunray, after a harsh, late Li Yan penalty and red card for Anthony Dela Nyatape wiped out an advantage claimed by Stephan Ambassa early in the second half.

Coupled with South China's dull goalless draw with last-placed Xiangxue, it was unusually insipid fare.

However, Citizen still cemented their place in the top four with the draw, which places them third between Rangers and Sun Hei.

'It's not bad being third at the end of the first round,' declared Citizen coach Simon Chan Kung-hing. 'The bosses, everyone, are satisfied with our performance so far. Besides, so many Hong Kong teams have come here and lost that a draw is a good result for our team.'

For a while it had seemed that Citizen would enter the break as the First Division's top dogs. In the 52nd minute Ambassa had capitalised on some fine work by Citizen's teenage striker Ma Shuai, who had dribbled through three defenders before stumbling and leaving his burly partner to calmly slide the ball inside the near post.

But just when the pink-clad visitors seemed certain to add to their lead, Xu Dexin got behind Nyatape on the break and took a tumble, though it seemed without much of an intervention from the Ghanaian defender. Referee Fong Yau-fat, trailing a good 20 yards behind the play, decided otherwise and pointed to the spot while whipping out the red card.