Vufu Taipho secured a 4:1 victory over Isterne in the Premier League Regular Season on Saturday. The hosts took an early lead after their opponent received a second yellow card within the first ten minutes, and they never looked back despite being reduced to ten men themselves. Paulinho scored twice in the closing stages to complete the rout.
And here's the thing about the opening exchanges — Leung Kwun-Chung picked up a yellow card in the seventh minute, then saw red four minutes later for a second booking. Isterne were down to ten men just before Y. Okubo put Vufu ahead on ten minutes. To be fair, the visitors should have capitalised on that numerical advantage, but they couldn't find a way through.
Wallisson Bahia doubled the lead in the 31st minute before Gabriel Cividini pulled one back for Isterne in the 70th. Paulinho then struck in the 73rd and added another in stoppage time on 90+2 minutes. Vufu made six substitutions throughout, with Fernando and P. Chan Siu-Kwan coming on together in the 84th minute, while Wallisson Bahia was withdrawn late in the game.
The statistics tell a story of dominance. Vufu registered 14 shots on target compared to just one from Isterne, despite the visitors recording more total attacks at 106. The hosts controlled possession at 53 per cent and won ten corners. Isterne picked up two yellow cards and a red, while Vufu collected one yellow and one red of their own.
Both sides enter the standings with zero games, zero points — the table says nothing yet. What this match does show is that Vufu Taipho have something to build on after their 4:2 defeat to Isterne in May. The visitors, meanwhile, will be disappointed to have conceded four goals despite having more attacking moves.