Thursday Rayon 7-1 Gicumbi Intare 0-3 Kiyovu
RAYON Sports have one foot into semi-finals of the 2019 Peace Cup after their sensational 7-1 victory over Gicumbi in the quarter-finals first leg on Thursday.
Goal machine Jules Ulimwengu left Camarade Banamwana’s side with a near-impossible task to pull off when they host the return-leg on Sunday as he became the first player to score four goals in local football, in a single match, in the last 12 years.
His goals all came in the second-half.
Ulimwengu, 19, was also the golden boot winner of the recently concluded Azam Rwanda Premier League with a record 20 goals.
After a reel of missed chances, Gilbert Mugisha broke the deadlock in the 34th minute to put the hosts ahead, but Gicumbi quickly re-energised to equalize through Eric Nzitonda nine minutes later. Just seconds before the break, Hussein Habimana scored to hand Rayon a hard-fought 2-1 first-half lead.
Things went bad for Gicumbi – who looked low-spirited and disorganised – after recess as Roberto Oliveira’s men dominated the possession, scoring five goals within 29 minutes.
Only Eric Rutanga’s goal in the 65th minute was between Ulimwengu’s four strikes in the 58th, 72nd, 86th and 87th minutes, respectively.
Elsewhere on Thursday, hopefuls SC Kiyovu made light work of Intare in a 3-0 win at Kicukiro Stadium to close in on a spot to the last four.
Vincent Habamahoro netted in either half while Armel Ghislain scored from the spot to complete the rout for Alain Kirasa’s Green Baggies who are on the hunt for their first major silverware in 26 years – since the 1993 league title.
The final will be played on July 4, just two days before the 2019 Cecafa Kagame Cup tournament kicks-off in Kigali.
Thirteen teams for Cecafa Kagame Cup
In the meantime, thirteen clubs have confirmed their participation in this year’s Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (Cecafa) Kagame Cup, scheduled for July 6-21 in Kigali.
According to Cecafa Secretary General, Nicholas Musonye, the draws are due to be held Friday afternoon at Rwanda Football Association headquarters in Remera.
Three-time winners APR and the 1998 champions, Rayon Sports, will represent Rwanda at this year’s competition.
Full list of teams:
Rayon and APR (Rwanda), Gor Mahia and Bandari (Kenya), holders Azam and KMC (Tanzania), KCCA and Proline (Uganda), KMKM (Zanzibar), AS Ports (Djibouti), Heegan (Somalia), TP Mazembe (DR Congo) and Zambia’s Green Buffaloes.
editor@newtimesrwanda.com