APR humiliate Rayon Sports

Rwandan record league champions APR thrashed Rayon Sports 4-0 in a thrilling encounter at the National Football League (NFL) on Sunday afternoon at Amahoro stadium in Kigali.

Striker Michel Ndahinduka broke the deadlock in the 75th minute before defender Emery Bayisenge converted a well taken freekick from 30 yards past a hapless Eric Ndayishimiye and into the top left corner in the 79th minute.

APR took charge of the game thereafter with the introduction of striker Bernabe Mubumbyi, who replaced Issa Bigirimana, with the former charging into the box thrice in two minutes to cause panic in the Rayon Sports defence.

Jean Claude Iranzi picked up the ball from the half way line and charged past Emmanuel Imanishimwe on the right flank but his pass was cleared by the Blues defence for a corner kick.

Iranzi’s well taken corner kick was met by an alert Yannick Mukunzi, who headed it straight into the net to give APR a 3-0 lead in the 85th minute.

A minute later, Iranzi was involved in a replica of his move earlier, cutting into the box from the right and passing to the well positioned Maxime Sekamana.

Sekamana, who was standing at the penalty spot, then placed a low pass into the back of the net to complete APR’s biggest win over their archrivals Rayon Sports.

APR interim head coach Vincent Mashami was pleased with his team’s display. “We played really well with patience and we were very careful in the first half, which is why we did not concede.

It is not easy playing against Rayon Sports because it has the biggest following with fans who cheer after a stringent of three passes so we had to break down their play which is where most teams playing against them fail.”

This win preserves APR’s seven-point lead at the top of the table standings with 38 points while Rayon Sports maintains third place with 25 points from 16 games and both sides have two games in hand.

Rayon Sports’ interim head coach Sosthene Habimana blamed the loss on a lack of concentration which saw his side concede four goals in 11 minutes.

“We did not create many chances in front of goal and for sure we conceded those goals because we did not remain focussed. It is a disappointing result for us,” explained Habimana.

Elsewhere, AS Kigali defeated Mukura 3-0 to maintain second place with 31 points from 16 games with two matches in hand while Isonga held Kiyovu to a goalless draw at the Ferwafa stadium.

Sunrise defeated Amagaju 1-0 in Nyamagabe while Musanze held Gicumbi to a goalless draw in Musanze.

Etincelles held Espoir to a goalless draw at the Tam Tam stadium in Rubavu while Police was held to a goalless draw by Marines at the Kicukiro stadium.