Rayon Sports lose to Zamalek

Sunday Zamalek 3-1 Rayon Sports Rayon Sports lost their Caf Confederation Cup first round, first leg match against Egyptian giants Zamalek 3-1 yesterday at El Gounah Stadium in Egypt. The Rwandan side conceded three goals in first half including two penalties which were converted by Ahmed Tawfik, while Ahmed Eid Abdel Malek added the third. Defender James Tubane missed a penalty in first half for Rayon and it was former Isonga striker Isaac Muganza who scored a consolation goal deep into the second half. Zamalek dominated the first half, taking the lead through a controversial penalty by Tawfik, but Rayon Sports improved greatly in second half in which midfielders Pierrot Kwizera and Djihad Bizimana missed a couple of scoring chances. “The first half was disaster, we gave away 3 goals due to lack of concentration but we managed to come back strong in second half and played well. We are going home to prepare for the second leg in Kigali,” Rayon Sports interim head coach Sosthene Habimana said. The Nyanza-based side will host the Egyptian side in the second leg in two weeks’ time as they need two goals to qualify for the next round. Having beaten Cameroon’s Panthère du Ndé 2-0 on aggregate in the preliminaries, Rayon Sports qualified for the first round to face Cairo giants Zamalek. The clash was supposed to be held in Cairo on Friday but the Egyptian Football Association decided to move it to El Gounah. Rayon Sports loss came a day after their local archrivals APR FC were beaten 2-0 by another Egyptian team, AL Ahly in the Caf Champions League first round, first leg at Amahoro stadium. editorial@newtimes.co.rw