Da Silva on target as Rayon go top again with win at Amagaju

Saturday Amagaju 1-2 Rayon Kiyovu 3-0 Espoir Musanze 2-1 Sunrise Bugesera 1-3 Police Jonathan Rafael da Silva scored his first league goal on Saturday as Rayon Sports survived a tough afternoon to reclaim the top spot with a dramatic 2-1 victory at Amagaju. Roberto Oliveira’s side are one point clear of second-placed APR, with three games left. Suleiman Mudeyi’s scrappy goal with four minutes to clock fired the Blues back to the summit after both sides were level for nearly forty minutes following Emmanuel Ndubusi Uko’s goal to cancel out da Silva’s opener. The Brazilian, who joined the Blues last November, opened the scoring after 14 minutes to give the visitors an early lead after Amagaju defenders failed to clear the ball, but Uko would equalize with a long range strike just after the break. Brazilian manager Oliveira said that ‘what mattered was the vital victory’, but he was not pleased with the wastefulness of his players in front of goal and urged them to stick to the mission: to win their remaining three fixtures en route to the club’s ninth league title. Rayon missed a number of clear-cut chances through Djabel Manishimwe, da Silva, Jules Ulimwengu and Fabrice Mugheni before Mudeyi netted the winning goal from Eric Gisa Irambona’s throw-in after a tight battle for the ball inside goalie Pacifique Twagirimana’s box. Ulimwengu, 19, still leads the golden boot chase with 17 goals, three ahead of APR forward Muhadjiri Hakizimana. After the hard-fought win over Amagaju, Rayon will host Musanze next at Kigali Stadium, on May 17, before delighting strugglers Kirehe (May 24) and facing Marines (June 1) in their last two games. On the other side, reigning champions APR, who beat Gicumbi 3-1 on Thursday, take on AS Muhanga on May 18, Espoir (May 25) before winding up their 2018/2019 league season against archrivals Police FC at Mumena Stadium on June 1. Elsewhere on Saturday; SC Kiyovu thrashed Espoir 3-0, Musanze beat Sunrise 2-1, while Police won 3-0 over Bugesera. editor@newtimesrwanda.com