Eastern and Kitchee locked horns on Lunar New Year’s Day in Hong Kong Stadium for the Senior Shield Final. Both sides battled hard, left everything on the pitch and the highly charged finale required penalty shootout to determine the outcome. At the end, it was Kitchee that emerged as the winner, as the side defeated Eastern 1:1 (4:2) in the Senior Shield Finale.

Kitchee fired the first shot of the game on the 4th minute, as Cleiton Velasques’ long-range drive failed to hit the intended target.

Kitchee had another early chance to break the game open. On the 14th minute, Cleiton Velasques’ out swinging corner-kick found teammate Roberto Affonso at the near post. The latter dished out a diving header but could not hit the target with his effort.

On the half hour mark, Eastern produced a great scoring chance. Marcos Gondra sent speedster Sun Ming-him behind the Kitchee defense. The speedy forward motored into the Kitchee box and pulled the trigger, only to be denied by a sprawling save from goalkeeper Paulo Da Silva.

On the 39th minute, it was Eastern once again. This time, Sun Ming-him unloaded a cracking tight angle shot that was stopped by Kitchee goalkeeper Paulo Da Silva.

Late in the first half, Kitchee had a solid chance to break the stalemate, as Cleiton Velasques belted a thunderbolt from inside the Eastern box, only to be turned away by a flying save from Eastern goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai. The game remained scoreless heading into the half time break.

Kitchee gradually took over the game in the second half and nearly got the go ahead goal. On the 64th minute, Igor Sartori whipped in a dangerous cross into the Eastern penalty area. Dejan Damjanovic applied a timely header but was denied by a spectacular save from Eastern custodian Yapp Hung-fai.

On the 71st minute, Kitchee managed to draw first blood of the game. Cleiton Velasques delivered a teasing cross from the right flank. Igor Sartori and Ngan Cheuk-pan both failed to put the ball into the net. However, Mikael Severo showed great awareness and drove the ball into the Eastern net, putting Kitchee in front 1:0.

Eastern responded immediately and pulled level on the 78th minute. Alexander Jojo knocked the ball into the Kitchee box. The ball was ineffectively cleared away by the Kitchee defense. Wong Tsz-ho sent the ball back to the Kitchee goal-mouth. Victor Bertomeu took care of the rest and duly headed the ball into the Kitchee net. The score was now tied at 1:1.

The 1:1 score remained unchanged after ninety minutes of regulation time, as the game entered extra-time mode.

During extra-time, Eastern’s Emilio Tsai cut towards the middle and fired away, only to be stopped by Kitchee goalkeeper Paulo Da Silva.

On the other end, Kitchee also came close, as Igor Sartori’s strike from the top of the box failed to threaten Eastern goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai.

Both sides were firmly locked in a 1:1 tie and the game required penalty shootout to determine the outcome. At the end, it was Kitchee that came out on top, as the side went on to beat Eastern 1:1 (4:2) through penalty shootout in the Senior Shield Final.

Eastern (2)1:1(4) Kitchee