On a day of, to all intents and purposes, academic encounters in Group B of the Sunray Cave League Cup, Kitchee finally saw a sign that their 'sophomore slump' might be over as playmaker Mihailo Jovanovic orchestrated a 4-0 thrashing of Fukien.
The Serbia and Montenegran, who earned himself the nickname 'Zidane' from the fans last season, finally gave a display of the creativity that won him the moniker. Arguably the player who has most visibly shown the weight of expectations on the Kitchee team after such a successful return to the top flight last season, Jovanovic scored one goal and created the other three in outrageous fashion to even outshine Happy Valley's Clodoaldo de Oliveira who scored a hat-trick in the league leaders' 4-2 win over a massively under-strength Sun Hei.
'Three assists and one goal shows he can still do a lot for the team,' said Kitchee coach Alan Lam Hing-lun. 'I think he's a good quality player but he has to control his emotions.'
Jovanovic set up both teenage striker Chan Siu-ki's goals with beautiful, long, accurate, diagonal passes that tempted Fukien keeper Zhang Chunhui into ill-advised dashes off his line. Both times, in the 10th and 62nd minutes, the 19-year-old was able to flick the ball into an unguarded net.
Jovanovic also presented Chan Yiu-lun with his first goal of the season in the 70th minute; in the spirit of the festive season it was gift-wrapped with a ribbon attached. Chasing a hopeless cause to the Fukien goal-line, the 29-year-old not only got there but managed to square the ball past Zhang to leave Chan Yiu-lun inches out with an open goal.
Perhaps the least impressive contribution was Jovanovic's own goal in the 60th minute, when Fukien allowed him to chest and volley Chan Yiu-lun's corner from close range.
'I think I can play better, but this was good. Now I have to perform like this consistently,' he said before conceding that the match wasn't as fiercely contested as usual.