AFC Cup: Kitchee win 3-0 against Churchill Brothers

Hongkong side Kitchee SC beat I-League team Churchill Brothers SC in the opening Group E match of the 2013 AFC Cup group stage at the Mong Kok Stadium in Hong Kong. Kitchee took the lead through their left back Chu Siu Kei, while Jorge Tarres scored a brace to round off the scoring.

Churchill Brothers Head Coach Mariano Dias decided to start with Sunil Chhetri and Henri Antchouet upfront, with Lenny Rodrigues and Bikramjit Singh controlling the midfield and with captain Dharmaraj Ravanan and Lamine Tamba at the heart of defence.

In the 28th minute Chu Siu Kei scored from a header from a well placed cross from the left by Yang Huang with the home side doubling their lead in the 31st minute, when Jorge Tarres beat the offside trap and made no mistake in placing the ball past Sandip Nandy. Steven Dias and Sunil Chhetri tried their luck just before the half time whistle, but were thwarted by an alert Wang Zhenpeng.

Churchill Brothers came out stronger in the second half, substitute T. Bineesh Balan injected some much needed pace into the midfield. Yang Huang was sent off in the fifty sixth minute after his second yellow card. Some good defensive play and the woodwork came to Kitchee's rescue to prevent Chhetri, Henri and Bineesh from scoring a much deserved goal for the Goan outfit.

Kitchee SC put the tie to rest in the 66th minute when Jorge Tarres headed home a well placed freekick to get his second of the night. The final chance of the match fell to Amandeep Singh, however his shot from 12 yards out was off target.

Churchill Brothers play their next AFC Cup match in Pune on March 12 againat Semen Padang of Indonesia.


Churchill Brothers SC
42-Sandip Nandy - 12-Denzil Franco, 13-Dharmaraj Ravanan [C], 46-Lamine Tamba, 26-Yumnam Raju Mangang - 23-Steven Benedic Dias, 24-Lenny Rodrigues, 28-Bikramjit Singh, 20-W. Tomba Singh - 47-Sunil Chhetri, 9-Henry Arnaud Antchouet Rebienot