Saturday

Rayon Sports Vs Amagaju

Rayon Sports coach Ivan Minneart has vowed his side will bounce back after enduring a disappointing 1-all draw to Mukura on Wednesday in Huye District.

The Belgian tactician appealed to his players to remain unshaken despite the ongoing woes at the club, and focus on Saturday’s (tomorrow) clash against Amagaju FC as the Blues attempt to win the Azam Rwanda Premier League back-to-back for the first time.

In their last seven matches in all competitions, Rayon Sports only managed one victory, against Bugesera in a 5-0 routing a fortnight ago. The defending champions recorded five draws and a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Mozambique’s Costa do Sol in Maputo.

After the meaningless loss to Costa do Sol, Rayon resumed the domestic assignments with a 1-all draw against Kiyovu and Kirehe in the league and then Etincelles in Peace Cup, respectively.

Over the weekend, Minneart’s men played yet again another 1-all draw with Kenyan giants Gor Mahia in Group D opener of the ongoing 2018 CAF Confederation Cup.

"The draw to Mukura is yet another frustrating result for us. This is absolutely not what we wanted but it happens in football. The hosts were well organised defensively and proven too hard to break,” Minneart told Times Sport in a post-match interview.

"We created a few chances but our efficiency was really low. We have to improve, especially in the league. We are playing Amagaju this Saturday, and it should be a must-win if we are to bounce back and surge forward as champions,” he added.

In a separate interview, a visibly unhappy Mukura head coach Francis Haringingo said he was not satisfied with the home draw attributing it to failure for his wingers and strikers to make the most of the ‘several’ goal opportunities created in front of Eric Ndayishimiye’s goal.

The draw against Rayon was Mukura’s 12th this season from twenty league matches.

In head-to-head record, of the last 21 games between Rayon and Mukura, the latter have only won four fixtures, both sides drew another four, while Rayon won 13 times.

In other matches played on Wednesday, Gicumbi beat Bugesera 2-1 to move from bottom to 14th place with 18 points while Amagaju overcame Musanze, also in a 2-1 win to jump to 12th from the 14th position.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw