Hong Kong suffered Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup penalty heartache for the second time in three years following a rousing second-half city team fightback in Guangzhou on Saturday.
Trailing 2-0 at half-time at the Greater Bay Area Cultural and Sports Centre, interim head coach Roberto Losada was rewarded for an inspired triple change as the visitors shook off their inertia to draw level with goals from Sun Ming-him and Wong Wai.
Tied 4-4 on aggregate at the final whistle, the game went to penalties and Wong’s elation gave way to desolation when he skied from the spot to hand Guangdong a 4-3 shoot-out victory.
The mainland China hosts, who claimed the trophy for a third straight year, just about deserved their success. They were purposeful and incisive from the outset, while Hong Kong initially sat passively behind the ball and failed to show any attacking guile or intent.
Still, Guangdong’s goals came gift-wrapped. With almost 15 minutes gone, Vas Nunez needlessly clattered Qian Ziling in the box, allowing Jiang Zhipeng to score from the spot, and then 10 minutes before the break, young goalkeeper Pong Cheuk-hei allowed a tame effort from Qian to go through his hands.
Juninho tried to instigate a turnaround but wasted two good opportunities to score, and Hong Kong would have gone in three down had Yuan Zinan not snatched at a very presentable opportunity late in the half.
Perfectly quiet session, just what I wanted. Pure, uninterrupted relaxation. A silent and peaceful ending.