{"id":72852,"date":"2024-05-13T14:33:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T14:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs"},"modified":"2024-05-13T15:03:58","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T15:03:58","slug":"espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs","title":{"rendered":"Espoir FC beat Ivoire Olympic to qualify for second division playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Substitute Jimmy Kibengo\u2019s second half strike gave Espoir FC a direct ticket to the second division playoffs after beating Ivoire Olympic 1-0 on Sunday, May 12, at Rusizi Stadium.<\/p>\n

Espoir, who were relegated from the topflight last season, were in dire need of a victory to secure their ticket to the playoffs without having to wait for the last game of the regular season.<\/p>\n

The game kicked off with both teams resorting to long balls, as is often the case at Rusizi Stadium due to the poor pitch conditions.<\/p>\n

As halftime approached, Espoir managed to create some scoring opportunities, but unfortunately, the first half ended with a barren draw as neither team manager to find the back of the net.<\/p>\n

In the 46th minute, coach Marcel Lomami made a strategic substitution, bringing in striker Kibengo for Adolphe Nsanzingomayijuru.<\/p>\n

And the substitution made an impact! Just 19 minutes into the second half, Kibengo broke the deadlock and scored the first goal of the match, giving the home team a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n

It was an exciting turn of events after some missed chances from both sides.<\/p>\n

Ivoire Olympic, who had nothing to fight for, tried their best to pose a threat to the Rusizi-based team but their attempts were not good enough to breach the goal defended by Christian Kilembe.<\/p>\n

The match ended 1-0 in favor of the home side.<\/p>\n

Espoir has just become the second team from Group B to secure their spot in the playoffs. They join Vision FC, who defeated Miroplast FC 3-1 in a thrilling match on Saturday, May 11.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Substitute Jimmy Kibengo\u2019s second half strike gave Espoir FC a direct ticket to the second division playoffs after beating Ivoire Olympic 1-0 on Sunday, May 12, at Rusizi Stadium. Espoir, who were relegated from the topflight last season, were in dire need of a victory to secure their ticket to the playoffs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":72851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-72852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nEspoir FC beat Ivoire Olympic to qualify for second division playoffs - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Substitute Jimmy Kibengo\u2019s second half strike gave Espoir FC a direct ticket to the second division playoffs after beati ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Espoir FC beat Ivoire Olympic to qualify for second division playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Substitute Jimmy Kibengo\u2019s second half strike gave Espoir FC a direct ticket to the second division playoffs after beati ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-13T14:33:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-13T15:03:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2024\/05\/sm_1715599925.807781.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Espoir FC beat Ivoire Olympic to qualify for second division playoffs\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-13T14:33:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-13T15:03:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs\"},\"wordCount\":283,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2024\/05\/sm_1715599925.807781.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/espoir-fc-beat-ivoire-olympic-to-qualify-for-second-division-playoffs\",\"name\":\"Espoir FC beat Ivoire Olympic to qualify for second division playoffs - 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