From Lionel Messi fiasco to penalty shoot-out agony for Hong Kong – but key stars skip Guangzhou tie
- Players who faced Inter Miami and starred in Asian Cup lose their Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup second leg after coach Jorn Andersen forced to pick makeshift team
- Guangdong draw level on aggregate in mainland China, then win shoot-out, scoring all four of their spot kicks and finishing with a ‘Panenka’
A makeshift Hong Kong team suffered penalty shoot-out disappointment against a Guangdong XI last night, after their two-goal first-leg advantage was wiped out inside 67 minutes at a sodden Yuexiushan Stadium in Guangzhou.
Guangdong scored all four of their kicks, following a 3-1 victory on the night, and finished with a flourish when Liao Junjian floated a fabulous “Panenka” kick into the middle of the goal to win the 42nd edition of the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup.
Paco Chan Hoi-pak smacked the post with Hong Kong’s first penalty, and after 17-year-old Eastern forward Ng Yu-hei nervelessly found the bottom corner, Guangdong keeper Cheng Yuelei saved Yip Cheuk-man’s effort.
Hong Kong will rue their failure to add to the two goals they scored at a rocking Mong Kok Stadium last week, as much as anything that happened last night.
Guangdong looked shell-shocked in the face of Hong Kong’s pace, hunger and aggression in the opening match.
Two of the driving forces behind that display, the dynamic Eastern duo of Jesse Yu Joy-yin, and Sun Ming-him, were missing here, because of their team’s involvement in Sunday’s Senior Shield final.
The inability to select key figures was a source of frustration for Jorn Andersen, who wanted to seize the momentum of a positive AFC Asian Cup finals campaign.
Hong Kong were nevertheless able to field a trio of players who started Sunday’s ill-starred game against Inter Miami, and there were six in the line-up from the squad that went to Qatar last month.
It was a player axed from that Asian Cup party who scored Hong Kong’s goal, however. Andersen declared Mahama Awal needed to “do more” to be part of his team, and the attacker has evidently worked his way back into the reckoning.
Awal’s equaliser after 25 minutes came when Cheng unconvincingly punched a free-kick delivered from deep by Anson Wong Ho-chun. The ball sailed to Awal, and he returned it through a crowd of bodies and into the net.
Hong Kong had fallen behind on the night after only seven minutes. Guangdong, smarting from last week’s chasing, swept upfield, speedily transferring the ball from right to left. Chen Zhechao planted his cross onto the head of Zhi Xiao, who clinically finished beyond Tse Ka-wing.
Liao flashed a header wide soon after Awal’s leveller, and Lam Hin-ting, the uncompromising Hong Kong midfielder, was booked for stopping Li Ning’s progress by grabbing the forward around the neck.
Guangdong moved back within striking distance of Hong Kong four minutes before half-time.
Li Ngai-hoi was on his heels when Tse pawed out Liang Xueming’s shot from close range. Chen pounced on the defender’s hesitation, stealing in front of a startled Li to poke home.
The goal that drew Guangdong level, after 67 minutes, stemmed from Hong Kong’s casual attempt to play upfield, after clearing a free-kick. The ball was fed back into the box for Li Ning, who was denied by Tse.
Jordan Lam Lok-kan hacked the follow up off the line, and the spinning ball struck the post, before Liao finally forced it into an unguarded net.
Andersen introduced a number of new faces, and Hong Kong recovered some of the zip of one week ago. After 78 minutes, the impressive Jordan Lam rattled the bar from 25 yards.
Lau Chi-lok missed his kick on the follow-up, but steadied himself to feed Lam Hon-ting for a strike resisted by Cheng. Ng sent an attempt from the corner of the box screaming narrowly off target with five minutes remaining.
There was nothing to separate the teams during extra-time, and Liao brilliantly executed his daring penalty to deny the away team their third straight Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup success.
