Played in front of a raucous capacity crowd at the Mong Kok Stadium, it was the visitors who took control early and Paulo Sousa’s men should’ve taken the lead after 19 minutes, but Belgian international Axel Witsel put his shot wide under little pressure.
As the half wore on, however, the home side settled into the match and started creating chances of their own, with star man Diego Forlan stinging the palms of Zhang Lu after 34 minutes.
Kitchee goalkeeper Wang Zhengpeng then produced a brilliant save to deny Wang Yongpo, who was one of Tianjin’s most lively players in the first half, to ensure the teams went into the half time break locked at 0-0.
With renewed confidence after their first half showing, Kitchee came out in the second half in an attacking mood and Hungarian midfielder Krisztian Vadocz came close to breaking the deadlock 10 minutes into the second half with a thumping effort from the edge of the area.
