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Jonathan White

Football returned over the weekend with the eight Hong Kong Premier League teams in action in the final group stage games of the Sapling Cup and fans back in the stands to see who would make the semi-finals.
Happy Valley and last year’s losing finalists KC Southern kicked off the restart in front of 349 fans in the sunshine at Siu Wan Sports Ground on Saturday,
A dead ball broke the deadlock half an hour in with Happy Valley captain Luciano da Silva heading home a Lai Pui Kei corner.
Southern had a chance to level on the stroke of half-time when Matthew Cahill was felled in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped Stefan Pereira but he ballooned the ball over the bar.

First win in 2021. And Today we need to prepare for the Sapling Cup semi-final. VAMOS! pic.twitter.com/cXx2PnbUZk
— Happy Valley FC (@HVFCHKG) February 21, 2021

After going close from another corner, Valley doubled their lead. Chu Wai-kwan added the second just before the hour before chances for both teams as the game wore on.
Happy Valley will face Lee Man in the semi-final at Mong Kok Stadium on Wednesday evening after the Bees beat Rangers on Sunday.
Hong Kong prepares ‘sports bubble’ in bid to host international football
Michael N’dri scored the solitary goal of the game in front of 520 fans at Mong Kok halfway through the first half. His header from a Wong Ho-chun centre proved decisive in the group A encounter.
Both teams went down to 10 players in the second half. Lee Man’s Serhii Shapoval was soon followed down the tunnel by Rangers defender Fernando Alcantara, with both sent off for bringing down opponents.
The other semi-final, which will take place at Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground on Wednesday night, pits Eastern against defending champions Kitchee.

Football is back in hong kong. Lovely Saturday. #hkfootball #siusaiwanstadium pic.twitter.com/3CGhTMvkC0
— Ricardo Rambo (@ricardorambo7) February 20, 2021

Last year’s winners saw off Tin Shui Wai Pegasus on Saturday night, coming out 3-1 winners in their group A encounter in front of 1,191 fans – the biggest crowd of the weekend – at Mong Kok.
Matthew Orr opened the scoring inside 10 minutes, nodding in a Dani Cancela cross, but Pegasus pegged them back through a Marcos da Silva strike half an hour later to leave the scores level at the interval.
Orr nodded Kitchee in front again on the hour, this time from a Cleiton De Oliveira centre, with Helio Goncalves heading in a late third from a Cleiton free kick.
Covid-19 has cost Hong Kong football a year it could ill afford to lose
Kitchee’s semi-final opponents Eastern saw off Resources Capital in the weekend’s other game. They had to come from behind at Siu Sai Wan after Resources Capital’s Law Chun-yan slotted home following a set-piece to take a shock lead on nine minutes.
Eastern responded quickly with Sandro latching onto a through ball to loft home four minutes later before they went in front on 21 minutes after Everton Camargo crossed for Sandro to steer home.
That would prove enough and Eastern, winners of the FA Cup and Senior Shield last season, moved a step closer to the Sapling Cup final.


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The Football Association of Hong Kong, China

Football and fans return to Hong Kong as Sapling Cup semis decided

Resources Capital’s Felipe Sa (centre) tries to escape the attentions of Eastern defenders Alexander Jojo (left) and Eduardo Praes in the Sapling Cup. Photo: HKFA

Hong Kong Premier League returns without fans, HKFA Senior Shield and FA Cup cancelled

Eastern goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai stops Kitchee striker Nikola Komazec, with Eastern central defender Clayton Afonso watching on in the Hong Kong Premier League match at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground. Photo: Chan Kin-wa

Training grounds to reopen this week for Hong Kong Premier League clubs, says source

Everton Camargo, of Eastern, challenges Lee Man’s Wong Ho-chun in the Hong Kong Premier League, the last match before the league was suspended in November. Photo: Hong Kong Football Association

Action from Eastern (blue shirt) against Resources Capital in the Hong Kong Premier League. Photo: HKFA

Sports Commissioner Yeung Tak-keung (left) and Hong Kong Football Associaiton chairman Pui Kwan-kay. Under the coronavirus crisis, Kitchee versus BC Rangers, a Sapling Cup match, is held closed doors at the Tseung Kwan O Football Training Centre. 11FEB20

Hong Kong football chief appeals for special dispensation so season can restart

A match played behind closed doors at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground. Photos: Felix Wong

Fans watch the FA Cup first-round match between BC Rangers versus Eastern Long Lions game from outside the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground. 07MAR20 SCMP / Felix Wong

Plenty of empty seats at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground for the FA Cup first-round match between BC Rangers and Eastern Long Lions. 07MAR20 SCMP / Felix Wong

(L-R) Everton Camargo; and Tomas Maronesi, in action during a FA Cup first-round match between BC Rangers and Eastern Long Lions at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground. 07MAR20 SCMP / Felix Wong

Football matches set to go back behind closed doors under latest round of anti-Covid 19 measures

Football fans try to get a glimpse of a match between Happy Valley and Kitchee at Mong Kok Stadium as social gathering rules ban crowds again. Photo: Sam Tsang

A snooker club was closed at State Theatre in North Point. 06OCT20 SCMP / Nora Tam

Resources Capita's Wong Wai-kwok (Centre) and Kwoon Chung Southern's Stefan Antonic (Right) in action during Football Sapling Cup match Resources Capital vs Kwoon Chung Southern at Yuen Long Stadium. First time in 10 months fans are allowed back to the stadium. 07NOV20 SCMP / Jonathan Wong

Eastern forward Sandro’s shot is just wide of the target during their impressive 4-0 victory against Happy Valley at Mong Kok Stadium. 06OCT10 Photo: Chan Kin-wa

Covid-19 has cost Hong Kong football a year it could not afford to lose

China's Ji Xiang scores their first goal in the win over Hong Kong at the EAFF E-1 Finals in Busan, South Korea. Photo: Reuters

Hong Kong representative team members model the new kit for 2021 at the HKFA Jockey Club Football Training Centre in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: Nike

Hong Kong supporters hold a banner reading "Hong Kong is not China" as security members try to take it away during the men's football match between Hong Kong and China at the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship in Busan on December 18, 2019. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

Sport

Hong Kong

Football


Happy Valley beat last season’s runners-up Southern to set up tie with Lee Man who edge out Rangers
Holders Kitchee down Pegasus but Eastern stand in their way of a return to the Sapling Cup final



Holders Kitchee down Pegasus but Eastern stand in their way of a return to the Sapling Cup final.


Hong Kong Premier League

Kitchee SC