Hakizimana's strike sends Mukura second in league

Wednesday Musanze FC 0-1 Mukura VCRwamagana City 0-1 SC Kiyovu Police FC 3-1 Espoir Tuesday Bugesera FC 1-1 AS KigaliSunrise 1-1 Gicumbi FCMarines FC 1-0 Etincelles Rayon Sports 0-0 AS Muhanga Muhadjiri Hakizimana scored his seventh league goal on Wednesday to send Mukura Victory Sports to the second position in the national league. Hakizimana, who turned 22 on February 1, scored the lone goal against George Semwogerere’s Musanze FC. Mukura has 23 points, two behind leaders AS Kigali after 11 rounds of matches. Hakizimana is a last born in a football playing family that has also produced legends like Abdul Sibomana and current Amavubi skipper, Haruna Niyonzima. “He is a talented boy, and you can see how he has improved this season. I am happy with the way my team played, but we have to stay focused and improve every game we play,” head coach Godfrey Okoko said. The Burundian tactician added, “We cannot start talking about the title after just 11 matches, we need to stay calm and take it game by game.” Hakizimana was among the 32-player provisional squad for the 2016 African Nations Championship, but never made the cut in the final team. Since the start of the league, he has scored against Police, Sunrise, Muhanga, SC Kiyovu, Amagaju (2) and Musanze—he also has three assists in league so far. “This is my work, so I am always trying to be the best that I can by working hard not only during matches but first on the training ground,” Hakizimana told Times Sport in a separate interview. The former SC Kiyovu starlet noted, “We need to continue to win our games and see where we will finish, it is a league and we will need to give our best in every game, if we want to achieve our set targets.” Hakizimana’s strike against Musanze FC, took him to the top of the top scorers’ chart with seven goals, ahead of AS Kigali striker Ernest Sugira and Police FC’s Isaie Songa, who are both on six goals. Police beat Espoir 3-0 to go into fourth place with 20 points, thanks to a brace from newly installed skipper, Innocent Habyarimana and one from Muhammed Mushimiyimana while Fiston Nzamukunda netted the consolation goal for Espoir. *********************************** League table Team PD W D L Pts AS Kigali 11 7 4 0 25Mukura VS 11 7 2 2 23Rayon Sports 11 6 4 1 22Police FC 10 5 5 0 20APR FC 9 5 3 1 18Kiyovu Sports 11 4 5 1 17Musanze 11 3 3 5 12Gicumbi 10 2 6 2 12Amagaju 9 3 3 3 12Sunrise 10 3 2 5 11Marines 10 2 4 4 10Espoir 10 2 4 4 10Rwamagana City 9 2 1 6 7Bugesera 9 1 4 4 7Etincelles 11 1 2 7 6AS Muhanga 11 0 3 8 3 editorial@newtimes.co.rw