Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda will rue the chances they missed as Lesotho held them to a 1-1 draw in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier match day 6 encounter at Amahoro Stadium on Tuesday.
Midfielder Lehlohonolo Fothoane pulled the scores even late to prevent Rwanda from going back to the top of Group C in case the visitors win appeal that could see South Africa handed a 3-point deducted for fielding Teboho Mokoena who received two accumulated yellow cards against Benin and Zimbabwe.
It was a game that the hosts dominated but their attack lacked efficiency as Lesotho came from behind to snatch a late equalizer.
Lesotho had the first chance of the game inside three minutes when Lemohang Lintsa capitalized on poor communication between Ange Mutsinzi and goalkeeper Fiacre Ntwari as he got in-between them to poke a ball which went over the bar to the relief of the home supporters.
Amavubi responded quickly with their first attack of the game in the fifth minute. Jojea Kwizera beautifully controlled a ball on the right flank before going past two Lesotho players but the danger was curtailed before he could pull a trigger.
Play had to be halted in the 11th minute as Ange Mutsinzi went down injured. Doctors had to attend to him before he got back onto the field.
Kwizera proved dangerous again as he beat his marker on the right, he advanced to the Lesotho penalty box before hitting a screamer which was punched by goalkeeper Sekhoane Moerane in the 16th minute.
Rwanda kept pushing for the opening goal when Hakim Sahabo nearly shot Amavubi ahead with a thunderous drive at the edge of the penalty box in the 22nd minute after beautifully dummying his marker. His striker was saved by goalkeeper Sekhoane.
Rwanda started stringing a couple of decent passes together in the Lesotho half but they always made the opponent to overcrowd them in the penalty box.
Kwizera forced another brilliant save from goalkeeper Sekhoane as he punched his free kick to the corner in the 33rd minute. Bonheur Mugisha was unlucky as his header from Kwizera’s corner kick missed the post by inches in the 34th minute.
Innocent Nshuti acted swiftly to get at the end of a quick break by Rwanda, he engineered space for himself before hitting a grounder which missed the post by inches in the 38th minute.
Kwizera was a tough customer for Rethabile Rasethuntsa the entire evening until he was subbed off late in the second half. He left the Lesotho left-back for dead on the wings before laying a pass to Kevin Muhire but the Rayon Sports star was slow to react as the danger was cleared in the 40th minute.
Goalkeeper Sekhoane came to the rescue of Lesotho again as he dived full length to save Kwizera’s fantastic curling effort in the 43rd minute.
Omborenga Fitina also saw his fine strike miss the post by inches in the 44th minute as Rwanda continued to bombard the vital area of Lesotho with series of attacks. After the 45 minutes had elapsed, there was three minutes of additional time as both teams held on to half time with a goalless draw.
Rwanda started the second half brightly and had a goal in the 47th minute through Kevin Muhire but it was ruled out as there was clash between Nshuti and goalkeeper Sekhoane. The referee collected a foul for Lesotho.
Kwizera superbly switched from the flanks to a central attacking role to receive a pass from captain of the day Thierry Manzi as he exquisitely went past his marker before firing past goalkeeper Sekhoane Moerane for the opener in the 58th minute to send thousands of the home crowd into a frenzy.
Rwanda took control of the game as they were able to pin Lesotho into their own half.
Coach Adel Amrouche made two changes in the 74th minute as Rafael York and Samuel Gueulette came in for Hakim Sahabo and Innocent Nshuti respectively in the 76th minute.
Amavubi had a chance to double the leady in the 78th minute but Kwizera’s chip inside the penalty box was saved by Sekhoane before Muhire blasted the rebound into the skies.
Gilbert Mugisha also had another chance to give the home team the second goal in the 80th minute. York stole the ball from Lesotho defenders and found Mugisha who went for personal glory and ballooned the ball over the bar instead of laying the ball for an unmarked Samuel Gueulette to finish.
Lesotho scored from their first chance in the second half as they turned defense to attack. Fothoane found
space in Amavubi box to fire past Fiacre Ntwari to make it 1-1 in the 82nd minute.
The hosts launched a pressing and dominated possession in the dying minutes of the game but, until the 90th minute, Lesotho shot stopper Moerane led the group to keep Rwanda at bay.
There was four minutes of additional time during which Rwanda missed a host of chances as the game ended 1-1.
In other games, Nigeria were held by Zimbabwe to a 1-1 draw while South Africa also defeated Benin 2-0 in an away encounter.
Despite the loss, Rwanda climbed to second in Group C with 8 points and are level with Benin while South Africa stay at the top with 13 points. Nigeria are 4th with 7 points whereas Lesotho are 5th with 6 points. Zimbabwe are 6th with 4 points.
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