Lee Man met up with Tai Po in Mong Kok Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the 2025-26 Boc LIFE Hong Kong Premier League clash. Lee Man draw with Tai Po by 2:2.
In the BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League match held at Mong Kok Stadium on Saturday (August 30), Lee Man and Tai Po delivered a goal-packed thriller, eventually drawing 2:2 with each team earning one point.
The Tai Po outfit initiated proceedings with a dangerous spell of pressure, as Lucas Da Silva managed to evade his markers at the 4-minute mark only to blaze his effort off target.
Having weathered the early storm, Lee Man gradually found their rhythm and carved out several promising chances. In the 10th minute, Li Ngai Hoi whipped in a dangerous delivery from the left flank, but Wong Wai's point-blank effort was spectacularly parried away by the goalkeeper with an acrobatic save.
The deadlock was finally broken on the half-hour mark when Wong Wai's inswinging corner from the left caused havoc. The Tai Po goalkeeper could only punch the ball into a dangerous area, where Everton Camargo nodded it goalwards before Luis Eduardo pounced amid the ensuing melee to fire home and give Lee Man a 1:0 advantage.
The remainder of the opening period saw both sides struggle to create clear-cut opportunities, with Lee Man taking their slender 1:0 lead into the interval.
After the restart, Tai Po emerged with renewed vigor and mounted a sustained offensive. Their endeavors were rewarded in the 50th minute when Lee Ka Ho delivered an inviting cross from the right flank that found Chan Siu Kwan Philip inside the area, who was unceremoniously brought down by Merabi Gigauri, prompting the referee to point to the spot. James Temelkovski stepped up with composure and dispatched the resulting penalty with aplomb, restoring parity at 1:1.
The momentum remained with Tai Po as Igor Sartori unleashed a thunderous strike from distance that forced a magnificent fingertip save from the Lee Man goalkeeper, with Chan Siu Kwan Philip's follow-up attempt bravely charged down by a desperate defensive block.
Tai Po thought they had completed the turnaround in the 62nd minute when James Temelkovski connected with a pinpoint cross from the left with a spectacular diving shot that bulged the net, only for the assistant's flag to curtail the celebrations with an offside decision.
Tai Po's persistence finally paid dividends in the 79th minute when Fernando Augusto delivered an exquisite cross from the left wing, allowing Chan Siu Kwan Philip to soar majestically at the far post and power a towering header beyond the goalkeeper's despairing dive to give his side a 2:1 advantage.
Facing defeat, Lee Man mounted a relentless siege on the Tai Po goal in the closing stages. Their Willian Leonardo first tested the goalkeeper with a venomous long-range drive that was palmed away, before showcasing his technical prowess with a swift turn and strike inside the penalty area that drew another crucial intervention from the increasingly busy Tai Po goalkeeper.
Just when Tai Po seemed destined for victory, Lee Man's dogged determination bore fruit deep into stoppage time when Everton Camargo's precisely delivered corner from the right flank was met with a clinical header from Willian Leonardo, who directed his effort unerringly into the net to salvage a dramatic 2:2 draw at the death, ensuring both teams departed with a share of the spoils.