International friendly
Saturday

APR 1-0 St.George

APR head coach Erik Paske believes his guns can oust their Orange Champions League first round opponents Recreativo de Libolo following Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Ethiopian giants St. George at Nyamirambo’s Regional Stadium.

The national league champions, who dominated the contest, took an early lead when striker Emmanuel Sebanani side-stepped St. George’s and former APR goalkeeper Aime Ndizeye aka Ndanda to put the military side ahead after only 10 minutes.

The goal was a product of a well-worked corner from Haruna Niyonzima.

The visitors never threatened APR’s goal until the introduction of St. George’s new signing Jimmy Gatete in the second half.

The striker, who was given a big standing ovation by APR fans before coming on, proved that he still has a yard of pace when he caused APR’s backline some problems.

He missed two clear chances on the 65th and 78th minute but the packed stadium cheered him on.

In a phone interview with Times Sport yesterday Paske noted that the team is in good shape to start their Champions league campaign.

"I’m glad with how we performed against St.George. We played with good control, technique and aggression. We were fast on the counter-attacks and defended as a unit.”
"We are ready for Recreativo de Libolo.”

APR will play their first leg on February 16 before playing another friendly against St.George in Addis Ababa. This will then be followed by a return leg against Recreativo.

Ends