Kitchee hit for six in AFC Cup - Hong Kong champions thrashed by Kuwait SC
Kuwaitis take strong grip on their quarter-final with a 6-0 first-leg victory
Hong Kong champions Kitchee have all but kissed their contintinental hopes goodbye after a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Kuwait SC in the first leg of their AFC Cup quarter-final clash in Kuwait City.
One day after rivals South China drew 1-1 away to Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim, Kitchee failed to make any impact away from home against the three-time Kuwaiti champions.
Rogerinho scored twice while Fahad Al Enezi, Chadi Hammami, Vinicius Lopes and Ali Al Kandari were also on target as the home side notched up a comfortable margin of victory ahead of the second leg in Hong Kong on September 16.
The defeat is tough for us, but we will try our best to learn from the mistakes that we made tonight
“I want to congratulate our opponents for their big win as they put on a good performance and deserved to win,” said Kitchee coach Abraham Aliaga. “The hot weather and the humidity in Kuwait affected our players who failed to put in their usual performance.”
“We tried to put our mark on the match and create some scoring chances but the mistakes the players made affected us. The defeat is tough for us, but we will try our best to learn from the mistakes that we made tonight.”
Kuwait SC coach Mohammad Ebrahim felt his team’s first-half performance was instrumental in the victory.
“I’m extremely happy we recorded such a big win,” said Ebrahim. “It was a great achievement for us because we won against a team that has several good players and they are one of the better teams in the competition.