2014–15 Kitchee SC season
# 2014–15 Kitchee SC season

The 2014–15 season was the 36th season of top-tier competitive association football played by Kitchee SC, a professional football club based in Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Their first-place finish in the Hong Kong Premier League meant it was their second successive championship in Hong Kong's top division, and seventh overall.

## Season overview

### Pre-season

In May, following the conclusion of the 2013–14 season, chairman Ken Ng revealed that Kitchee would host French Champions Paris Saint-Germain on the 29th of July at the Hong Kong Stadium. At the press conference where this information was first revealed to the public, Ng detailed both clubs' ambitions with scheduling the friendly match, stating that Kitchee "would like to present the best football clubs to fans in Hong Kong every year and especially this year, following the World Cup. Paris Saint-Germain will be led by their world class star, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and the match against Kitchee will serve as Paris Saint-Germain’s final preparation before the team travel to Beijing for the French Super Cup.”

Paris Saint-Germain defeated Kitchee 6–2 in the July 29th friendly. Juan Belencoso headed in the opening goal at the five minute mark, but PSG's Hervin Ongenda equalized seven minutes later. Jean-Christophe Bahebeck and Zlatan Ibrahimović contributed to Paris Saint Germain's dominating performance with a brace and a hat-trick, respectively. Alex Tayo Akande netted a stoppage time goal on the counter attack to close the scoring.

## Squad

    As of the end of the season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | GK | HKG | Wang Zhenpeng |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Fernando Recio |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Dani Cancela |
| 4 | DF | HKG | Chan Cham Hei |
| 5 | DF | BRA | Hélio |
| 6 | MF | HKG | Gao Wen |
| 7 | MF | HKG | Xu Deshuai |
| 8 | FW | NGA | Alex Tayo Akande |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Juan Belencoso |
| 10 | MF | HKG | Lam Ka Wai |
| 11 | MF | HKG | To Hon To |
| 12 | DF | HKG | Lo Kwan Yee |
| 13 | DF | HKG | Cheung Kin Fung |
| 14 | MF | HKG | Cheung Kwok Ming |
| 15 | MF | HKG | Christian Annan |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | DF | HKG | Tsang Chi Hau |
| 17 | MF | BRA | Paulinho |
| 18 | FW | ESP | Jordi Tarrés |
| 19 | MF | HKG | Huang Yang |
| 20 | MF | CAN | Matt Lam |
| 21 | DF | HKG | Tsang Kam To |
| 22 | MF | HKG | Emmet Wan |
| 23 | GK | CHN | Guo Jianqiao |
| 24 | MF | KOR | Cho Sung-Min |
| 26 | DF | HKG | Wang Hecun |
| 27 | GK | HKG | Chan Ka Ho |
| 30 | DF | HKG | Leung Ka Hai |
| 38 | MF | HKG | Ngan Lok Fung |
| 44 | MF | KOR | Kim Tae-min |
| 88 | FW | ESP | Borja Rubiato |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Kitchee | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 40 | 18 | +22 | 36 | Qualification to Champions League preliminary round 2 |
| 2 | Eastern | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 20 | +14 | 33 | Qualification to season play-off |
| 3 | Pegasus | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 34 | 23 | +11 | 27 | Qualification to season play-off |
| 4 | South China | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 30 | 17 | +13 | 27 | Qualification to AFC Cup group stage |
| 5 | YFCMD | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 29 | −4 | 26 | Qualification to season play-off |

* 1 2 As Kitchee won the FA Cup, Eastern finished 2nd in Premier League and won the Senior Challenge Shield, teams finishing 4th and 5th in Premier League entered the season play-off as well.
* 1 2 Pegasus wins head-to-head against South China.
* ↑ As winners of the season play-off.

## Match details

### Key

Win  Draw  Loss

### AFC Cup

**Group stage**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | JDT | KIT | EBG | BAL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 15 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 2–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Kitchee | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage | 2–0 | — | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| 3 | East Bengal | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 5 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 |
| 4 | Balestier Khalsa | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 13 | −10 | 3 | | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — |
