Rayon coach lauds hat trick hero Nahimana

SaturdayRayon Sports 4-1 MusanzeSC Kiyovu 1-1 SunrisePepiniere 0-3 AS KigaliMarines 2-1 Kirehe FridayAPR FC 2-2 PoliceBugesera 2-0 MukuraEtincelles 1-1 EspoirAmagaju 4-0 Gicumbi Coach Djuma Masudi was full of praise for striker Shassir Nahimana after the Burundi International bagged his first hat trick for the club as Rayon Sport thrashed Musanze FC 4-1 on Saturday at Kigali Regional Stadium to open a two-point lead at the top of the league table. The title hopefuls were in excellent form as they put Musanze on the sword to remain unbeaten after ten rounds of matches with 26 points, two points better than bitter arch-rivals APR FC, who drew 2-2 against third-placed Police FC on Friday. Police are five points behind the leaders. Goal machine Nahimana, who joined Rayon Sports at the start of this season, broke the deadlock with a powerful header off Moustapha Nsengiyumva’s free kick taken in the 10th minute. That goal set the tone for what will follow as the Blues pressed forward in search for more goals and the second arrived four minutes later courtesy of Nsengiyumva’s brilliant strike. Following several attempts, Musanze FC pulled one back to in the 45th when Francois Hakizimana scored from a corner kick. Rayon started the second half with even more momentum and in the 57th minute, Nahimana made it 3-1 with his second of the match, taping home a rebound from close range after Musanza goalie had failed to hold on to a Djabel Imanishimwe free-kick. The 23-year old Burundi forward completed his first hat-trick of the season in the 83rd minute to take his tally to nine in ten matches. He is league top scorer, one goal better than Police FC’s Dany Usengimana and Salita Kambala of Etincelles. Commenting about his compatriot after the match, Masudi said, “I am not surprised with Nahimana’s performance, he is a complete striker and I signed him very well aware of what he is capable of.” “I actually I hope there is a lot more to come from him. He was wonderful today but the whole team performed excellently and I can’t be happier,” Masudi said. Musanze head coach Sosthene Habimana attributed his team’s loss to individual mistakes that resulted in the set pieces which their opponents took advantage of to score two of the four goals. The former Rayon assistant coach said, “We have lost but it was because of our own undoing, we committed several unnecessary errors which cost us. However, I think Rayon deserved to win because they have been the better team and have been consistent.” Elsewhere, SC Kiyovu played a 1-all draw with Sunrise FC at Mumena stadium while Marines secured a deserved 2-1 win over visitors Kirehe FC at Umuganda stadium in Rubavu. At Kicukiro stadium, AS Kigali picked three valuable points on forfeit after bottom side and still winless Pepiniere FC failed to show up at the match venue. After Match Day 10, Rayon Sports lead the 16-team league table with 26 points, two points better than APR FC while Police FC are third with 21 points, a point better than fourth-placed Espoir. At the bottom of the table, Gicumbi FC stayed in 15th position after losing 4-0 against fellow strugglers Amagaju FC on Friday, while Jean Baptiste Kayiranga’s Pepiniere are 16th with a solitary point. editorial@newtimes.co.rw