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On a scorching Saturday afternoon, Sharks miserable run in the EFL cup continued as they lost 4-2 to the Buona Vista Saints despite the latter playing most of the second half with only 10 men after they had a man sent off early in the second half.
Things were not looking good from the start with the Sharks missing several players including Vincent, Yi Quan, Jeffrey, Stefan and Zhuoneng. There was however a welcome return for Chris Fullgraf, who is back on holiday, Michael Jensen as well as his Danish counter part Soren who were both eager for action against the Norwegian opponents. Ten minutes into the game, Heng Li had a perfect opportunity to put the Sharks in the lead after a flick on by Jensen but his chip was a touch too heavy. Saints were pounding the nervy Sharks defence with crosses from both wings and their efforts paid off when they quickly went 2-0 up after Sharks failed to clear their lines. Murugesan put Sharks back in the game after forcing an error from the opposing defence and calmly finishing to the bottom corner. Saints however had other ideas as they scored again to regain the 2 goal lead. Just before half time, Heng Li rose highest to head home a Jensen corner and Soren almost put Sharks level when his powerful drive smashed against the woodwork. Sharks went into halftime a goal down with all to play for.
Early in the second half, Saints had a man sent off for retaliation on Charlson which set the stage for a comeback for the Sharks. This was not to be as 10 minutes later, a simple longball went over the static Sharks defence and the Saints forward made no mistake from the resulting one on one. With only 3 substitutes and the relentless heat taking its toll on the players, the fast tiring Sharks pushed forward to get something out of the game but their efforts yielded no results as the Saints held on to a well deserved 4-2 victory.
The caretaker managers Jeremy and Heng Li was lost for words after the game but offered no excuse despite the team missing almost its entire defense. They quoted however, 'It's time to rethink games being played on Saturdays'.
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