Tai Po secured a crucial 1:0 victory against Eastern in a tightly contested match, with Chan Siu Kwan Philip's late first-half strike proving to be the difference between the two sides,winning the first game of this season.
Both teams started the game rather slow and failed to produce clear-cut chances.Eastern had the first on-target attempt on the 11th minute,Sun Ming Him connected with a pass from teammate and pulled the trigger,but was saved by the goalkeeper.Tai Po picked up the pace and pushed for a goal after a slow start, coming close to breaking the deadlock on the 13th minute. Luiz Humberto received a long pass and made a brilliant run, beating two Eastern defenders before slotting the ball past the goalkeeper. Unfortunately, he was denied by a last-ditch clearance from Ryu Ji Seong, preventing Tai Po from taking the lead.On the 24th minute, Tai Po's Joao Emir executed a skillful pass from the right flank, but Chan Siu Kwan Philip's header narrowly missed the mark, failing to convert the opportunity into a goal.
Both teams had chances to score afterwards.On the 34th minute, Sun Ming Him made a skillful move to evade the defender at the edge of the penalty area and unleashed an effort towards the goal,but he couldn’t generate enough power on his shot and was easily caught by the goalkeeper.Eastern came close again four minutes later,Calum Renwick Hall fired a free-kick from 25 yards,not to see his effort was stopped by the goalkeeper.
Tai Po finally broke the deadlock just before the end of the first half.Joao Emir and Chan Siu-kwan Phillip orchestrated a brilliant combination play to tear apart Eastern's defense, the latter calmly slotted the ball into the far post from inside the box to give Tai Po a 1-0 lead at halftime.
Eastern tried to come back in the second half.On the 55th minute,Gondra Krug Marcos blasted a direct free-kick from the right flank, but the goalkeeper made a crucial save. Despite having more possession,Eastern struggled to break Tai Po’s organized defense line.Sun Ming Him tried to level the game before the final whistle,but his effort was blocked by the goalkeeper once again.The 1:0 score stood all the way to the end,Tai Po beat Eastern with a 1:0 victory and claimed all three point.