Masudi turns focus to crucial clash against APR

Saturday Rayon Sports 3-1 Police FC Amagaju Fc 1-0 Bugesera FC Rwamagana City 1-2 APR FC Musanze Fc 2-1 Espoir FCMarines Fc 1-2 SC KiyovuSunrise FC 1-0 Mukura VSAS Kigali 2-1 AS Muhanga Gicumbi Fc 1-0 Etincelles Fc Rayon Sports head coach Djuma Masudi had no time to celebrate his team’s triumph over Police FC in Saturday’s Azam premier league’s late game, immediately turning his focus to tomorrow’s mouthwatering clash against champions and current leaders APR FC. Rayon beat Police FC 3-1 at Kigali Regional Stadium to peg back APR’s lead to four points having started the game trailing the military side by seven points. APR had earlier in the day beaten Rwamagana City 2-1. Youngster Savio Dominique Nshuti netted a brace -- on 25th and 75th minutes -- before Malian striker Ismailia Diarra scored the third in the 54thminute to maintain Masudi’s unbeaten run since he became the Blues head coach in March. Innocent Habyarimana scored a late consolation goal for Police FC with a brilliant free kick in the 84th minute. The win took Masudi’s Rayon Sports to 42 points. Defending champions APR got their win through second hand-half goals by Djihad Bizimana and Michel Ndahinduka as Nizar Khanfir’s side remained top of the table with 46 points after 20 rounds of matches. Masudi said in a post-match news conference that his focus was already on Tuesday’s game against archivals APR at Amahoro National Stadium. “We want to win and stay close to them (APR). I am happy with the way my players are doing, but we have to keep the pressure on the leaders,” the former Rayon Sports striker said. He added, “This is big step but we have to continue winning. We need to fight until the end. We have a little time to recover for the match against APR, but we have to be prepared because us against them is not a normal game. ” His Police counterpart Andre Casa Mbungo said he takes responsibility for the loss. “Rayon Sports have shown they are ambitious and we were not good enough to win today.” SC Kiyovu climbed into third spot with 38 points following a 2-1 win over Marines at Umuganda Stadium. Niyonzima Muvunyi put Marines ahead in the first half before SC Kiyovu’s new signing Henry Bao equalized. League top goal scorer Andre Lomami netted the winner with his 12th goal of the season. Mukura VS dropped to fourth spot after a 1-0 loss to Sunrise FC courtesy of a lone strike from Vedaste Niyibizi, while Amagaju FC edged Bugesera FC 1-0 in Nyamagabe. AS Kigali moved into fifth spot with 34 points following a 2-1 win over bottom-placed AS Muhanga at Kigali Regional Stadium. Striker Sugira Ernest and Rodrigue Murengezi were on target for Eric Nshimiyimana’s side while Ibrahim Ndikumasabo scored the consolation for AS Muhanga. Musanze FC registered a 2-1 win over Espoir FC at Nyakinama ground while Gicumbi FC edged Etincelles FC 1-0. editorial@newtimes.co.rw