It was a masterstroke performance by Cameroonian forward Leandre Willy Onana Essomba on February 18 as he scored twice for Rayon Sports in a 2-1 win over Gasogi in a Rwanda Premier League encounter. In a tense game which saw Rayon struggling in early stages, it took the individual brilliance of Onana to get them the three maximum points as he scored two sublime goals in a 2-1 win. The quality that Onana possesses has not been in doubt since he joined the club on August 21, 2021 from Erding FC in his native Cameroon. ALSO READ: Photos: Onana hits brace as Blues seize top spot in title race The 22-year-old attacker had to pass trials at Rayon's Nzove training facility under the watchful eyes of then coach Djuma Masudi before being offered a contract. Though Masudi failed to succeed at Rayon and was eventually sacked, he gave Rayon a priceless asset by sporting Onana's talent and signing him. In his debut season, the Cameroon-born attacker formed a formidable partnership and Moroccan Youssef Rharb and their partnership tormented opponents until the Moroccan left the club some months later. Yousseff has established himself as a pass master at Rayon and reading Onana’s movements towards the goal won the admiration of football pundits and fans alike. But his sudden departure to his parent club Raja Casablanca affected the striker’s goal scoring form as well and his goal ration evidently dropped. The attacker scored seven goals in his debut season with the Blues, including five that came before Youssef left the club. ALSO READ: Onana returns to training after two-month injury layoff Onana suffered a serious injury on January 19, 2022 against Etincelles and had to spend three months on the sidelines, he came back fully in April but was a pale shadow of himself as the injury had weakened him. Rayon struggled terribly without Onana and even in the early days of his return because his impact was minimal. The Blues failed to win a silverware in the 2021/2022 season as Onana's injury persistently affected their performance overall. He remains the live wire of the team and when he is fully fit, Rayon are always a force to reckon with. Rayon are chasing their first league title since the 2018/2019 season and they are going all out this season with Onana being their leading top scorer despite suffering yet another injury that kept him out of action until February. In Onana, they have a deadly attacking weapon who is capable of deciding the game with individual moments of football wizardry and he did that against Gasogi with two breathtaking goals. He has netted eight goals so far this season and has been the club's most efficient player. Onana has been deployed in all attacking positions this season ranging from being a central striker, a supporting striker and operating on the wings in Francis Haringingo’s 4:3:3 formations. He has excelled in each of all these roles showing his versatility and efficiency as a forward player. It is evident that Onana is Rayon's key man in attack and he will be very vital if they are to wrestle the title from APR FC. The club management and supporters are praying that Onana stays fit until the season ends as he possesses a potential to deliver them the long elusive league title that they have been craving for the past four seasons. His return to the squad, alongside skipper Abdul Rwatubyaye, early in February, has boosted Haringingo’s confidence of finally lining up a solid team ready to roar back and beat anyone. Onana was indirectly involved in the lone goal that Rayon scored to be APR in February as he was fouled behind the penalty box only for Eric Ngendahimana to connect to Heritier Luvumbu’s free kick and score a goal that ended APR’s four-year dominance. The Cameroonian then singlehandedly beat Gasogi when his brace helped the Blues successfully inflict a revenge over the club that beat them in the first round of the league back in December. Rayon, now sitting second with a point shy of table leaders APR, have again shown hunger for the title and with eight match days left to play, the club is showing no signs to back down and, in Onana, there is hope that the title could finally come the Blues’ way.
