AS Kigali's Murengezi nets first hat-trick of season

Sunday AS Muhanga 0-2 Musanze FC Gicumbi FC 1-0 Marines AS Kigali 4-0 Sunrise FC Saturday SC Kiyovu 2-0 Amagaju FC Mukura VS 2-1 Rwamagana City Etincelles FC 0-0 Rayon Sports Rodriguez Murengezi netted the first hat-trick of the season as City of Kigali-sponsored AS Kigali overwhelmed Sunrise 4-0 in the Azam Rwanda Premier League at Mumena stadium on Sunday. The win, in which midfielder Hamidou Ndayisaba scored the other goal, moved AS Kigali to the top of the table standings on goal difference but level on seven points with second-placed Police FC after three rounds of matches. Police drew 1-1 with APR on Friday to leave the reigning champions in 10th place with four points. Rodriguez netted the first of his three goals in the 41st minute to ensure that AS Kigali went into recess with advantage, and he doubled the lead five minutes after recess before completing his treble on the hour mark while midfielder Ndayisaba sealed the win with the fourth goal in the 85th minute. “This is a good start for us as we look forward to compete for the title. Murengezi is a good player; he has qualities to score more than 10 goals a season, and I hope his hat trick is the first of many to come in the course of the season,” AS Kigali head coach Eric Nshimiyimana told Times Sport in a post-match interview on Sunday. He added that, “I am not surprised because he has that ability of scoring, so I am happy that we have many players in the team, who can score goals.” Sunrise FC were hoping to recover from last week’s (Wednesday) 1-0 loss against Marines but endured a difficult afternoon against AS Kigali, which was gunning to extend a good start to the season in which they have won twice and drawn once. Jimmy Mulisa’s side started the game on a promising note with Ugandan striker Mike Segawa threatening to find the net for the visitors in the opening half, but AS Kigali goalkeeper Shamiru Batte was pivotal as he pulled off some brilliant saves. “We are disappointed to lose in this manner, but this is part of the game. We would have loved to win today or at least get a draw but we haven’t, so we have to move on and prepare for the next match. All the goals were a result of our mistakes,” Mulisa said. Murengezi’s hat-trick took him to the top of the goal scorers’ chart with four goals, followed by Mukura forward Christopher Ndayishimiye and Musanze’s Peter Otema, who both have three goals. Elsewhere, Otema and Jean Pierre Muhindo were on target as Barrack Hussein’s Musanze FC defeated bottom of the table AS Muhanga 2-0 in a match played at Muhanga stadium. Gicumbi snatched a 1-0 win over Marines in Gicumbi—the lone goal for Emmanuel Ruremesha’s team was scored by Rachid Mutebi. On Saturday, Rayon Sports failed to collect maximum points after being held to a goalless draw by Etincelles at Tam Tam ground. League table Team PD W D L Pts AS Kigali 3 2 1 0 7 Police 3 2 1 0 7 Mukura 3 2 0 1 6 Musanze 3 2 0 1 6 SC Kiyovu 3 1 2 0 5 Rwamagana 3 1 1 1 4 Rayon Sports 3 1 1 1 4 Gicumbi 3 1 1 1 4 Espoir 3 1 1 1 4 APR 3 1 1 1 4 Bugesera 3 1 1 1 4 Amagaju 3 1 1 1 4 Marines 3 1 0 2 3 Sunrise 3 1 0 2 3 Etincelles 3 0 1 2 1 AS Muhanga 0 0 0 0 0