Hong Kong Premier League: Kitchee boss makes most of crushing win to experiment ahead of AFC Champions League push
- South Korean forward Kim Shin-wook bags hat-trick in 8-0 demolition of limited Football Club side
- Head coach Alex Chu takes opportunity to tweak line-up with one eye on group stages next month
Alex Chu Chi-kwong had the luxury of experimenting with tactics and personnel as Kitchee cruised to victory over Hong Kong Football club on Sunday.
Head coach Chu’s team were 6-0 up after 30 minutes, with South Korean forward Kim Shin-wook netting a 10-minute hat-trick to emphatically break his scoring duck after a February transfer from Lion City Sailors.
Football Club ended the match with striker Paul Ngue in goal after an injury for 38-year-old stand-in Issey Maholo, playing his first competitive football since May 2021.
Chu, who said there was no immediate news over the mooted signing of Austrian forward Jakob Jantscher, saw his side take the lead when Kim thrashed home from close range after 14 minutes. Tan Chun-lok tapped in two minutes later for a goal on his full debut.
Kim beat Maholo to Ruslan Mingazov’s hoisted 21st-minute cross to score his second, and the 35-year-old, making his first league start for the club, scored from the spot after Martin Fray hauled down Sartori in the box.
“This is just the beginning for me,” Kim told the Post. “I am around 80-per cent fit. I didn’t play in the first XI last season, but I know my teammates better and have practised how we play.”