Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas, while praising the efforts and repair work of White Hart Lane groundsman Darren Baldwin for ensuring that the tournament could be played on Saturday, urged the organisers to "prepare for more than a month" the next time they stage a competition of this nature.
But with the competing Premier League clubs understood to each receive a fee of £1.2 million for playing in the tournament, the likelihood of similar competitions being staged in Hong Kong – the Asia Trophy has been staged on the peninsular twice before – is likely to remain strong.
United manager David Moyes watched Spurs' 6-0 win against South China before City's victory against Sunderland, courtesy of Edin Dzeko's ninth-minute goal, and the Scot will be involved in discussions on Sunday as to whether Monday's fixture will go ahead.
The Premier League champions are due to earn in the region of £2 million for facing Kitchee – a figure protected by insurance against such eventualities as postponement due to adverse weather conditions – but the state of the pitch has led to the cancellation of training on Sunday in order to give the surface the best opportunity to recover in time for the game, despite the forecast of more heavy rain.
"Manchester United, Kitchee FC and the Hong Kong Football Association have reluctantly made the decision to cancel the open training session planned for tomorrow [Sunday] evening at the Hong Kong Stadium," said a joint statement issued by all parties.
"The pitch has suffered from torrential rainfall in the last week and has staged a number of games in a very short space of time. Wednesday's matches [Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City vs South China] had their kick-offs delayed, only proceeding after being shortened to 40-minute halves.
"The weather has continued to present problems for the pitch and the first consideration of both the HKFA and Manchester United has to be the safety of the players in such conditions."
Meanwhile, with Gareth Bale missing with a buttock strain, Jermain Defoe scored a hat-trick as Spurs took third place in the Barclays Asia Trophy.
"The prospect of more strikers being brought in doesn't bother me," Defoe said. "In fact I would welcome in because we need one last season. It is the start of a big year because I feel I have a chance of going to the World Cup. That will definitel y be a target for this year."
City's victory secured the first trophy of Pellegrini's reign, prompting the Chilean to respond to the club's demand for five trophies in five years by joking: "Now I have this one, I only need four more."
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