Hong Kong’s bid to win back the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup was wrecked by a late strike from Xia Dalong, as the mainland visitors won a chaotic and bad-tempered clash 2-1 on Wednesday night.
The hosts appeared to have all the momentum after Kyle Lau Ka-kiu struck shortly after half-time, following a first-half opener from Behram Abduweli – later sent off after receiving a second yellow card deep into stoppage time.
But Guangdong clinched a 3-2 aggregate victory, following last week’s 1-1 first leg, when substitute Xia aimed a diving header beyond Ivan Ng Wai-him from Abduweli’s 86th-minute cross.
The Post has been told that Guangdong’s players stood to pocket US$50,000 (HK$389,000) per man for victory. They celebrated their decisive strike like lottery winners, but did so in front of the home supporters.
That time, with only Ellison Tsang Yi-hang racing over to take issue, and members of the Guangdong staff imploring their players to go to their small band of supporters, the flashpoint quickly settled.
Tempers had earlier boiled over when Abduweli opened the scoring after 32 minutes. The goal was beautifully worked, although aided by some sluggish Hong Kong defending.
