Wednesday

Rayon Sports vs Amagaju 3:30pm

SundayEtincelles 0-2 APR FCMusanze FC 1-0 EspoirPepiniere 0-0 SC Kiyovu

SaturdayAS Kigali 4-1 MukuraBugesera 1-1 Sunrise FCMarines FC 1-2 GicumbiKirehe FC 0-1 Police FC

After five games without a win, defending champions APR FC beat Etincelles 2-0 on Sunday at Umuganda Stadium, a result that head coach Jimmy Mulisa admitted left him a relieved man.

Both goals came in the first half through striker Issa Bigirimana in the first minute and then center-back Aimable Nsabimana in the 21st minute.

APR remain in second position with 44 points, eight behind leaders Rayon Sports, who will play against Amagaju FC on Wednesday at Stade de Kigali in Nyamirambo. Etincelles remain in ninth place with 26 points with eight matches remaining.

"Honestly, this win brings some relief because it has been long since we last tasted victory, and I must thank my players for putting on a winning performance today, we can now look forward to the next game with a bit more optimism. Winning breeds confidence,” Mulisa said after the match.

The former Amavubi and APR forward noted: "We must continue winning and hope that our rivals can drop points. We have dropped many points recently and it has really affected our chances (to win the title).”

APR dominated proceedings in both halves and created numerous scoring opportunities that they failed to convert, while the hosts, Etincelles, who relied mostly on counter-attacks struggled to break down the opponents’ defence. Gentil Salite Kambale failed to score after getting two clear chances.

His counterpart Emmanuel Ruremesha said that, "We played badly in first half and we gave away three important points today.”

"We didn’t do well especially in the first half, but we improved in the second half and managed to cause APR a few problems, but we didn’t do enough to beat their defence,” he added.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Musanze beat Espoir 1-0 at Ubworoherane Stadium, thanks to Ramadhan Niyonkuru’s goal in the 83rd minute, while bottom side Pepiniere held SC Kiyovu to a goalless draw at Ruyenzi ground.

Police and AS Kigali won their respective matches on Saturday to stay third and fourth respectively tied on 43 points. Musanze jumped up to fifth place with 33 points while Bugesera FC, who drew 1-1 against Sunrise FC dropped to sixth position on 33 points.

AS Kigali humiliated Mukura 4-1, striker Bernabe Mubumbyi scored four goals in the 22nd, 26th, 30th and 90th minutes while Hussein Cyiza netted a consolation goal in the 80th minute.

Gicumbi FC beat Marines at Umuganda Stadium to go one point behind their opponents. Striker Rashid Mutebi gave the visitors the lead on the stroke of half time for his seventh goal of the season.

Hamad Hakorimana netted the second goal in the 58th minute before Prince Nkusi pulled one back for Marines in the 88th minute.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw