Today

APR FC vs Musanze 3:30pm

WednesdayAPR FC 0-1 GicumbiRayon Sporst 2-0 Espoir

APR head coach Jimmy Mulisa has described his side’s league schedule as "completely unfair” following Wednesday’s shock 1-0 loss against Gicumbi FC at Kicukiro Stadium.

It was the second defeat of the season for the reigning champions, who return to action on Friday (today) against sixth-placed Musanze FC at Kigali Regional Stadium.

After managing just one win in the last six games in all competitions, the army side saw their title bid falter as they did not only lose to a relegation-threatened side but also the top spot to archrivals Rayon Sports, who won 2-0 against Espoir.

A lone strike from striker Suleiman Mudeyi in the second half helped to ensure a first win for newly appointed head coach Godfroid Okoko.

In his first game, the former Mukura tactician Okoko lost to Etincelles 1-0 before settling for a 2-all draw against SC Kiyovu in his second game in charge.

"Honestly, it is very sad that a club seeking to defend their title loses such an important game; however, I don’t condemn my players, because they played well, dominated the game and created about six clear cut scoring chances but failed to execute them,” said Mulisa in a post-match interview.

He noted that, "I have complained on several occasions about the way our fixtures are scheduled, which does not give us time to recover well before again preparing for the next game. We have to play Musanze on Friday, less than 48 hours after playing today.”

"Evidently, the goal we conceded today was a result of players fatigue, look at the mistakes we committed, they’re so basic, which is a result of fatigue, the fixture schedule is completely unfair on us,” he further stressed.

In the last six matches in all competitions, APR drew 1-1 with Bugesera before a barren draw against Zanaco FC in CAF Champions League first leg and a 1-0 home defeat in the return leg. The army side also drew goalless against Amagaju FC before beating Mukura 3-2 on Friday.

However, Gicumbi remains second from bottom of the 16-team league table with 12 points while APR dropped to second spot with 38 points, two behind leaders Rayon Sports, who also have a game in hand.

Rayon took another step towards their first league title since 2013 as they beat Espoir 2-0 courtesy of goals from Moustapha Sengiyumva in the 8th minute and new Malian signing Tidiane Kone, two minutes to half time.

League table

Team PD W D L PtsRayon Sports 17 12 4 1 40APR FC 18 11 5 2 38Police FC 18 10 5 3 35AS Kigali 17 10 3 4 33Bugesera 18 8 7 3 31Musanze 18 8 4 6 28Espoir 18 6 8 4 26Etincelles 18 7 4 7 25Sunrise 17 5 6 6 21Kirehe FC 18 5 5 8 20Kiyovu 18 5 5 8 20Amagaju 18 5 4 9 19Mukura 18 4 7 7 19Marines 18 5 3 10 18Gicumbi 18 3 3 12 12Pepiniere 18 1 3 14 6

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