Undoubtedly, the cause of Hong Kong's defeat, a 1-3 defeat on the road, was intricate. It was not only due to head coach Muscat's mistakes in tactical layout, but also closely related to the adjudication style of the West Asian refereeing team. During the match, the six-member refereeing team led by Qatari referee Al-Farahi showed Hong Kong the unique style of decision-making of West Asian referees.
Encouraged by the referee's obvious bias in favor of the home team, Kawasaki strikers were able to make high tackles with impunity, and this biased enforcement made the Hong Kong team feel doubly uncomfortable. The referee's style of decision-making, which is very different from that of the Chinese Super League referees, was extremely disturbing to the Hong Kong team during the match.
Therefore, some Hong Kong fans believe that if the Chinese Super League referees had been in charge of the game, the result might have been very different. The Hong Kong team might not have suffered such obvious targeting, and there would not have been a situation where players were put down by their opponents but were not treated fairly by the referee.
The Qatari referee seemed to "return to normal" when Hong Kong fell behind 0-3. Towards the end of the second half, he began to penalize Kawasaki for frequent fouls. The red card shown to Kawasaki also seemed to suggest that the referee had lost control of the game. Whether or not the Hong Kong team will file a complaint with the AFC after losing the match has also become the focus of fans' attention.
After the 1-3 defeat against Kawasaki Frontale on the road, the Hong Kong team needs to make quick adjustments. The team must learn from this defeat and identify and solve their problems by watching match footage and intensive training. Even though the Chinese Super League season is over, the Hong Kong team still has to fight on two fronts. Apart from the AFC Champions League, they will also play the FA Cup final against Shandong Taishan at the end of this month.
Looking at the current situation, although the Hong Kong team did not dominate in the AFC Champions League, they are still at the top of their game when they return home. If they play at their true level, they should be able to beat Shandong Taishan and win the first Chinese Super League title in the club's history.
