APR head coach Jimmy Mulisa has admitted that his side face a real crisis in their striking line despite a hard-fought 2-0 win over SC Kiyovu on Sunday that brought back some glimmer of hope in their league title campaign.
SundayAPR FC 2-0 SC Kiyovu Amagaju 1-1 Sunrise FCBugesera 3-1 GicumbiPepiniere 0-2 EspoirKirehe FC 1-0 AS KigaliEtincelles 0-0 Police FC
FridayMarines FC 2-2 Musanze
APR head coach Jimmy Mulisa has admitted that his side face a real crisis in their striking line despite a hard-fought 2-0 win over SC Kiyovu on Sunday that brought back some glimmer of hope in their league title campaign.
The reigning champions have been inconsistent this season and are currently second on the table with 50 points from 24 matches, five points behind league leaders and archrivals, Rayon Sports, who have played two games less.
On Sunday, Jimmy Mulisa’s side got a win out of nothing, having been held at arms’ length by struggling SC Kiyovu, until two late goals from defender Aimable Nsabimana in the 85th minute and skipper Albert Ngabo two minutes later at Kigali Stadium in Nyamirambo.
"We got the three points, which was the most important thing but did it in the most difficult way. I have to admit that we have a very big problem in our striking positions,” Mulisa told Times Sport after the match.
He added that, "In most games that we have won, it’s been by one goal, if we manage to finish this season well, it’s something that we will need to address in the next season.”
In their last ten games, APR have won four, drawn five and lost one, scoring 10 goals and conceding six—their top scorer in the league, Issa Bigirimana has five goals.
Their other forwards, namely; Onesme Twizerimana, Fiston Nkenzingabo, Muhadjiri Hakizimana and Innocent Nshuti, have not contributed enough goals, which is a big concern for Mulisa.
The military side signed Hakizimana and Twizerimana at the start of the season from AS Kigali after the former had won last season’s joint-top scorer award as a Mukura player with Police FC’s Danny Usengimana with 16 goals each, while Twizerimana had had a successful spell in AS Kigali.
With injuries affecting the duo, Twizerimana is yet to score a league goal for his new club while Muhadjiri has scored three times.
APR FC have scored a total of 32 goals and conceded 15 compared to Rayon Sports, who have scored 49 and conceded just 12 goals.
Meanwhile, the defeat was the 12th of the season for Aloys Kanamugire’s SC Kiyovu, standing in 13th place with 22 points, four ahead of Gicumbi FC, who occupy the last two relegation spots.
Elsewhere, third-placed Police FC (47 points) were held to a goalless draw by Etincelles, who stayed in eighth position with 30 points, with six rounds of matches remaining.
Eric Nshimiyimana’s AS Kigali suffered their sixth defeat of the season going down 1-0 away to Kirehe FC in the Eastern Province to stay fourth with 44 points, while Kirehe jumped to 9th on 28 points.
At the other end of the table, Gicumbi FC lost 3-1 against fifth-placed Bugesera FC at Nyamata ground to stay second from bottom, while bottom side and relegation-bound Pepiniere FC lost at home 0-2 at the hands of Espoir FC, who jumped to seventh in the table with 33 points.
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