Rayon Sport’s 13 game unbeaten run was yesterday brought to an end by bitter rivals APR after losing 1-0 at Amahoro national stadium, a result that took APR to the summit of the Azam Rwanda premier league.
APR who lost twice to Rayon Sport last season were out for revenge while the Blues were hoping to open a six-point gap in the league, however APR striker Issa Bigirimana’s brilliant header in the 23rd minute handed the military side a narrow victory.
APR kicked off the game pressing hard and had a chance to break the deadlock in 4th minute after Rayon’s Eric Irambona fouled Michel Rusheshangoga out of the penalty box but APR failed to capitalize on that mistake earn them the first free kick that was well taken by Patrick Sibomana however Pierrot Kwizera came to the rescue.
On the ninth minute, Rayon through their playmaker Nshuti Dominic Savio came close to finding the back of the net after his very cross from the left wing found Jean d’Amour Nzayisenga outside the box who tried a powerful long range but went wide of the goal.
In the 23rd minute, following several attempts by APR in front of Eric Ndayishimiye’s goal, Bigirimana broke the deadlock through a header from Sibomana’s cross that sent APR fans into wild celebrations.
The goal seemed to awaken Rayon Sport who began to attack APR but their efforts were futile as they missed two clear cut chances through Burundian duo of Kwizera and Shassir Nahimana in the 25th and 26 minutes respectively.
Bigirimana kept Rayon’s defence on their toes and almost doubled the lead in the 31 minute from Yannick Mukunzi’s ball which found him only with goalie Ndayishimiye who did well to save his powerful short from going to the top corner of the net.
Masudi’s boys however dominated possession in the last 10 minutes of the first quarter with Nshuti making several crosses for Malian striker Moussa Camara to equalize however the highly-rated star was kept at bay by central defender Herve Rugwiro.
Rayon as expected kicked off the second half pressing hard while APR largely depended on counter attacks. The Blues tried to make use of the final five minutes playing just outside APR’s box but it didn’t yield any positive outcome.
The win saw APR claim the top spot because of the new head to head rule.
Meanwhile in other games played yesterday, Espoir and Sunrise settled for a 1-all draw in Rusizi while Bugesera defeated Etincelles 2-0 and on Friday, Police thrashed AS Kigali 3-0 at Kicukiro stadium.
Today, Mukura will host Musanze at Huye stadium, SC Kiyovu will take Marine at Kigali Regional stadium, Gicumbi and Kirehe will face off at Gicumbi turf while Amagaju and Pepiniere will lock horns in Nyamagabe.
Some of the most revealing photos that characterized the game yesterday:
The New Times
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