AFC Champions League: Kitchee set up group decider with Vissel Kobe after beating Chiangrai 3-2
- A late goal by Hong Kong international Law Tsz-chun keeps Kitchee in Group J contention
- Match against Japanese side on Sunday will decide if Kitchee can reach top regional competition’s knockout round for first time since 2015
Kitchee kept their hopes alive in the AFC Champions League, thanks to a late goal by Law Tsz-chun that gave them a desperately needed 3-2 victory over Chiangrai United of Thailand in Buriram on Thursday.
Law was in the right place at the right time after Dejan Damjanovic’s shot following a Rusland Mingazov cross was pushed out by Chiangrai goalkeeper before the Hong Kong international slammed the rebound into the roof of the net to seal victory for Kitchee on 81 minutes.
Kitchee head coach Chu Chi-kwong was relieved after the match as they conceded a penalty in first-half stoppage but were able to come back to lead 2-1 after the break through goals of second substitute Alex Akande and prolific striker Damjanovic, who has now netted a record of 41 goals in the top tier cup competition.
In a rain-interrupted match which had its start delayed by an hour, Sarawut Inpaen put Chiangrai United back on equal terms on 79 minutes through a header, but no sooner had the home team celebrated than Law’s goal came to make the difference.
“The result is good because we won,” said Chu, “but the heavy rain made it difficult to build up the attack and then unfortunately we lost a penalty before the end of the first half. But the boys never gave up and fought until the end. It was very exciting as Chiangrai also played very well but it was a good result for us.”
The coach said they had already prepared the situation when they went down in the first half after Sean Tse Ka-keung brought down Chiangrai forward Ryuji Hirota inside the area for a penalty.