Cecafa: Tanzania Outclass Rwanda, Enter Quarters

Three-time champions, Tanzania became the first side to book their spot in the quarterfinals of the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup after beating Rwanda 2-1 in a top of the table Group A clash at Hawassa Stadium, Ethiopia Tuesday (Nov. 24).

A goal either side of half time by Said Hamis Ndemla and Simon Msuva gave the Kilimanjaro Stars the victory despite the Amavubi threatening a late comeback when Jacques Tuyisenge netted late on.

The two sides could not be separated during the early exchanges with Hamid Mao coming close for Tanzania while Jean Claude Iranzi also saw an effort go wide for Rwanda.

Juma breaks deadlock

The opening goal came half-way into the opening half, Hamis Juma thumping home a lovely free-kick past Olivier Kwizera to open his 2015 Cecafa account and give his team a lead they kept to the half time whistle.

Rwanda rung the changes immediately after the interval with Jihad Bizimana and Munezero Fiston coming on for Yannick Mukunzi and Ernest Sugira but the new blood failed to make immediate impact for the Amavubi.

However, it was 2010 champions, Tanzania, who extended their lead, Yanga FC forward Msuva punishing a goalkeeping error from Kwizera after 78 minutes.

Nervous finish

Jacques Tuyisenge almost pulled one back for Rwanda immediately but his freekick missed the target by inches. However, the Police FC forward netted his second goal in the competition just two minutes to the final whistle to set up a tense finale.

Tanzania however sucked up the pressure to claim their second win in Group A, leaving them on six points which guarantees them entry into the quarters and with a game in hand.

The Amavubi, who won their opener 1-0 against Ethiopia, will be hoping they can grab the second automatic slot in their final group match against Somalia on Friday.

Somalia and Ethiopia are bottom of the group ahead of their meeting on Wednesday.

Source: Be what Next

UM– USEKE.RW