AFC Leopards claw Ulinzi Stars
Ulinzi Stars' Daniel Waweru (right) vies for the ball with Yussuf Mainge of AFC Leopards during their SportPesa Premier League match at Afraha stadium on April 7, 2019. PHOTO | RICHARD MAOSI |
What you need to know:
- Coach Mbungo praised his charges for playing according to his instructions.
- "The outcome is good for me as it gives me hope that all is not lost in the team as we can still rise from our bad position and reclaim our glory," said coach Mbungo.
AFC Leopards saw off hosts Ulinzi Stars 1-0 to harvest maximum points in a fast paced SportPesa Premier League match at Afraha Stadium on Sunday.
Ingwe electrified the stadium moments after referee Broke Philip signalled the start of the match with flowing football that saw them launch a series of attacks in front of the soldiers' defence.
The attacking trio of Vincent Oburu, Whyvonne Isuza and Brian Marita fired salvos in the opening stages of the match as the city cats launched deadly attacks.
But it was Ulinzi who had the first direct attempt on the goal in the 21st minute when Daniel Waweru saw his well taken shot inside the box saved by the hawkeyed goalkeeper Jairus Adira.
Bonventure Muchuka should have opened the scoring for Ulinzi in the 41st minute, but his header following a corner kick by John Njuguna was saved by keeper Adirus.
On resumption, Ingwe came alive and barely four minutes into the game they netted their all important goal through Marita.
It is a goal that will haunt Ulinzi steady defender Hassan "Rio" Mohammed, who made a disastrous head pass to goalkeeper James Saruni, but the speedy Marita, who was lurking intercepted it to fire home a superb shot range strike to score his second goal of the season.
AFC Leopards Rwandan coach Andre Casa Mbungo made three changes introducing Asad Musa, Robinson Kamura and Marcela Kaheza and rested Shami Kibwana, Yusuf Mainge and Vincent Oburu.
On the opposite side, coach Benjamin Nyangweso brought in Oscar Wamalwa, Ibrahin Shambi and Ezekiel Okare and recalled John Njuguna, John Kago and Daniel Waweru.
"It was a tough match, we created our chances but we did not turn them into goals and in football no matter how many chances you create without scoring, it is disastrous," said coach Nyangweso.
Coach Mbungo praised his charges for playing according to his instructions.
"The outcome is good for me as it gives me hope that all is not lost in the team as we can still rise from our bad position and reclaim our glory," said coach Mbungo.
