Congolese forward Destin Exauce Malanda's first half strike did the magic for Mukura Victory Sports who defeated APR FC 1-0 at Huye Stadium on Sunday to blow their chances in the Rwanda Premier League title race. A win in Huye would see Darko Novic’s side close the gap at the top of the table to just one point after Rayon Sports were held to a 1-1 draw against Amagaju at the same stadium. Mukura were, however, the better side from the onset as they began piling pressure on the visitors with their attacking 3-5-2 formation. The likes of Boateng Mensah and his attacking partner Malanda came close to opening the scoring early in the first half but APR’s defense led by Clement Niyigena kept them at bay. Pierre Ishimwe, who was handed a debut between APR’s posts for the first time this season, was beaten by Malanda from a superb effort in the 19th minute as the army side was pinned to their own half. Zuberi Hakizimana had a ball in the APR penalty half and dribbled through a host of legs before laying a pass to Malanda who blasted the ball into the roof of the net to make it 1-0. After the half hour mark, APR threatened to equalized but Mukura’s defense marshaled around Abdul Jalilu, Abdul Ishimwe and Chris Rushema weren’t any shaky as silenced Djibril Ouatarra who struggled to give them a hard time on their own ground. At half time, Novic made four changes bringing on Ismail Nshimirimana, Ramadhan Niyibizi, Mamadou Sy and Gilbert Mugisha for Seidu Dauda, Bosco Ruboneka, Lamine Bah and Denis Omedi respectively as he went all out for an equalizer. APR had a chance to restore parity in the 63rd minute but a timely tackle from Abdul Jalilu deprived Ouatarra of the ball. In the 76th minute, Mukura striker Boateng Mensah was brought down at the edge of the APR penalty box by Clement Niyigena but the resultant free kick from Jalilu was tipped over the bar by Ishimwe. APR decided to push more men upfront with the aim of finding the equalizer but Mukura were outstanding at the back as they defended gallantly to maintain their 1-0 lead until fulltime. READ: APR FC share spoils with Police FC in epic encounter The result saw APR now trailing league leaders Rayon Sports by 4 points. Mukura VS have, on the other hand, been giant killers this season, having so far defeated Rayon, Police and APR who are title contenders. In another fixture of the day, Vision FC were thrashed 4-0 by Bugesera FC at Kigali Pele Stadium.
