Sugira inspires AS Vita win in DRC league

Rwanda international Ernest Sugira scored the lone goal in a match in which AS Vita Club beat AS Dragons in DR Congo national league at Stade de Martyrs on Sunday. The 25-year-old striker, who joined the Congolese side in a record transfer fee of US$120,000 from AS Kigali, scored in the 9th minute to lead Florent Ibenge’s team to victory on match-day 2 of the 2016/2017 season. The former APR forward was in the starting team on Sunday after coming off the bench to score on his league debut as AS Vita won 3-0 over MK FC on Wednesday. Sunday’s strike took Sugira’s tally to two goals from two matches. The DR Congo Premier League has a total of 28 teams, which are divided into three Zones namely; East, Central and the West where AS Vita plays from. Currently AS Vita tops the 10-team West Zone table standings with maximum 6 points. Other clubs in the West Zone include DC Motema Pembe, Shark Club XI FC, RCK, MK, Dragons-Bilima, Rojolu, Veti Club, Ndombe and Renaissance du Congo. After zonal phase, the top three teams from each region qualify for the round of last eight at the national level.Sugira rose to fame during the 2014/2015 campaign when he was on loan at AS Kigali from APR before receiving his first international cap in late 2014, under Briton Stephen Constantine The former AS Muhanga player was Amavubi top scorer with 3 goals at the 2016 African Nations Championships (CHAN) finals tournament staged in Rwanda. He was Rwanda’s only player in the 18-man team of the tournament that was won by DR Congo, who defeated Mali 4-0 in the final. DRC eliminated Rwanda 2-1 in the quarter-finals with Sugira scoring the hosts’ goal. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Sugira inspires AS Vita win in DRC league