Kitchee on verge of conceding Hong Kong Premier League title after Eastern defeat but Kim adamant job prospects unharmed
- Eastern break 2.5-year duck with victory over Kitchee, meaning reigning champions all but out of running for fourth straight title
- Teams will meet again in FA Cup semi-final, with date for fixture yet to be confirmed, with final confirmed for June 1
Kim Dong-jin, the interim head coach of Kitchee, says the harmful 2-1 loss to Eastern on Wednesday has not damaged his prospects of being appointed permanently.
Targeting a fourth straight title, Kitchee trail league leaders Lee Man by three points, having played a game more. To clinch a top-two finish, they need to win their final two matches, including a last-day meeting with Lee Man, and hope for Tai Po to drop points in their closing four games. With the championship seemingly out of reach, they must win the FA Cup to avoid missing Asian football for the first time since 2011.
“I don’t think [the result will harm his job chances],” Kim said. “I have the opportunity to do the role until the end of the season, then we will see what happens. We have four or five matches [including cup games], and that is the focus.”
Kim took over a listing ship when he replaced Alex Chu Chi-kwong, who was sidelined into a youth coaching post, following a poor start to the season.
The South Korean was unbeaten in 13 league matches before the defeat by Eastern. Kitchee, however, have laboured in key fixtures, and failed to score in draws with Southern, Tai Po and Eastern.
They squandered numerous openings against Eastern in midweek, before being caught with numbers upfield when chasing the winner they needed to keep alive any realistic title hopes, and to concede the clinching goal themselves.