AFC Cup: Lee Man make history to leave Eastern on brink

It will not as Tainan’s 3-0 win proved, where two goals from striker Chen Jui-chieh and an own goal from Athletic 220 substitute Dulguun Batkhishig sealed it.

Eastern now need a helping hand from somewhere. “We have to win the next two games and wait for the results,” said Eastern coach Roberto Losada. “I like a challenge”.

He added that he was proud of his players but the team made mistakes and one of them was the goal that proved the decider.

A loose pass from a Yapp Hung-fai goal kick gave the ball to Lee Man’s Jonathan Acosta and after drawing out the Eastern keeper he squared to teammate Givanilton to slot home.

“If we can score a second it would be controlled and not so stressful,” Chan said. “The players were nervous, it was their first time in the AFC Cup. It will go smoother next game.”

Chan admitted that both sides were not at their best with players either having a month off from playing since the HKPL season ended or jet lagged from playing for Hong Kong in their Fifa World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain before entering the AFC Cup bubble.

It was loose passes that led to most chances, with man of the match Givanilton having the best one to make it 2-0 during the crowd’s 47th minute applause. Lee Man hit the post soon after with Acosta only slightly misjudging his slide rule finish after Givanilton’s footwork on a break from another loose pass by Eastern in their own half.

Givanilton could and should have done better on another counter, scooping wide, before Eastern’s Wong Wai should have scored from a Naveed Khan cross.

Then Lee Man went up the other end and nearly scored themselves as Acosta headed flush against the bar from Givanilton’s cross.

It was a spirited game despite the downpour, with a frenetic start to both halves and plenty of chances throughout.

Still neither side looked like recognisable as either the team that took the Hong Kong Premier League title race down to the final day, before losing to Kitchee, or the team that finished the season in the best form – winning all three games in the Championship group.

At one point with the clock winding down, Eastern hit a corner straight out of play before the resulting goal kick was shanked out for a throw.

These teams had already met three times already this season – Eastern winning both regular season games 3-2 and Lee Man winning in the postseason Championship Group

Such familiarity may not yet have bred full contempt between the rivals but there were a few tasty challenges, with Eastern’s Wong Tsz-ho and Lee Man’s Wong Chun-ho going in the referee’s notebook.

The crowd saved their loudest boos of the night for Eastern’s Clayton getting away with leaving one on Kim Seung-yong and just getting a warning from the referee – most of the 2,326 who had braved the rain at So Kon Po seeming to want a card shown.

Everton – off the bench for Eastern despite not being fully fit – tried to win a penalty but the referee was having none of it. It would have been an injustice had it been given and scored.

There are two games left for both in this AFC Cup group stage with Lee Man now the favourites to top the group and take the spot in the inter-zone play-off semi-finals. Their history is in their own hands.