Aston Villa secured a record-extending seventh HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens title yesterday, beating local side Tai Po 3-0 at a packed Hong Kong Football Club to claim the trophy for the first time since 2016.
Omari Kellyman scored twice in the first half before Lee Ka-ho's red card for a foul on the 17-year-old left Tai Po short-handed. Frankie Ealing then hit Villa's third before Luizinho's late sending-off, which saw the Hong Kong side finish the final with five players.
"At the start of the tournament we had a disappointing result against Tai Po, so to bounce back and win all the games after that hasn't been an easy thing to do," said Kellyman, the tournament's leading scorer with five goals. "But we did it and I'm proud of the boys. It's been a great experience.
"The physical side of the game, the heat is very different from England. Coming out here, you've got to run the hard yards and do everything to the best of your ability. "
Tai Po had pulled off a surprise 1-0 win over Villa in the group meeting between the teams on Saturday but there was to be no repeat of that result.
Villa also ended the reign of champions Newcastle, winning their quarter-final 2-0. They reached the final with a 1-0 victory over Hong Kong Premier League champions Kitchee, who had seen off Queens Park Rangers 2-0 in the quarter-finals.
Tai Po, meanwhile, notched up a 1-0 win over Leicester to set up a semi-final meeting with Brighton. They beat Brighton 4-2 on penalties after their match finished 1-1.
In the Masters event, Wallsend Boys Club retained the title with a 2-1 sudden-death extra-time win over 2018 winners Ampcontrol Discovery Bay in the final, with Kim Dong Jin netting the winner.
