Eastern Salon coach Cordeiro dismisses title hopes despite big win
Eastern Salon enjoyed their biggest win in the RedMR First Division this season, a 4-1 victory over 10-man Royal Southern on Sunday, but coach Cristiano Cordeiro admitted it was too late to give them any hopes of a title surge.
Ip Chung-long had put the visitors ahead in the first half at Sham Shui Po Sports Ground, but the newly promoted side replied with four goals after the break, two in the closing stages after Southern midfielder Ngan Lok-fung was shown a straight red for a bad tackle on Diego Moreira.
"It was a small pitch and difficult to play," said the Eastern coach. "We upped the tempo after the break and passed the ball more to break their defence and the effort paid off."
We upped the tempo after the break and passed the ball more to break their defence and the effort paid off
Eastern are tied with Sun Pegasus on 19 points, but Kitchee are well ahead at the top on 31, followed by South China (24).
"I don't think we have any chance in the championship. It's already too late as half the season has gone," added Cordeiro. "But we want to give the team a target and that's why we still sign new players at this stage.
"There is the FA Cup and the Play-off Cup for next year's AFC Cup berth, both of which give us motivation for the rest of the season."
Giovane da Silva equalised in the 52nd minute, before Roberto Fronza converted a penalty four minutes later.
Australian striker Dylan Macallister had a dream start for Eastern when he was brought on late in the second half. Yago Gonzalez's clearance fell straight to him; the former Melbourne Heart player took the gift without hesitation to put Eastern 3-1 up with seven minutes left. Da Silva rounded off the scoring in the 89th minute.
Another new signing, Liang Zicheng, also impressed on the left after coming on in the second half.
