- Rwanda drew 1-1 with benin
- They played 30 minutes of the match with 10 men
- They have now picked back to back draws
Steve Mounie stepped off the bench to grab a late equalizer for Benin as they played to a 1-1 draw with Rwanda in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Cotonou on Wednesday night.
Rwanda had gone ahead through Gilbert Mugisha and looked on course to battle for an away victory, but they conceded eight minutes from time to split the points. They also had to play the last half an hour of the match with 10 men after Hakim Sahabo was sent off for a second yellow card.
Head coach Carlos Alos Ferrer was left ruing the red card, saying they would have won the match had they played with full compliments.
“I am not happy with the result because I think if we played 11 versus 11, we would have been better and we could take the three points. When we lost one player, it was difficult for us. We knew that Benin is a very physical team when playing crosses with very good strikers and it was not easy,” Rwanda’s Ferrer said.
He added; “But the point is good for us, we are still above Benin and we will try to do better at home. I want to congratulate the players. I am really proud of them they worked hard and did what I wanted.”
Veteran forward Mounie preserved a point for the home side with a late goal. He picked a loose ball inside the box in the 82nd minute before powering a volley past keeper Fiacre Ntwari.
Rwanda had been forced to play on the backfoot especially after forward Sahabo had been sent off for a second yellow card. He had been booked inside the first two minutes for having wrong undergarments and his second yellow card was for pulling.
Benin come close with several chances
Just before scoring, Mounie had come close severally, once with a header that had gone wide, while another bouncing from the edge of the six yard box skipped over.
They also had another close chance in the 71st minute when Tosin Ayegun’s connection at the backpost from Stephane Ssesegnon’s freekick went over.
Rwanda had opened the scoring in the 13th minute through Gilbert Mugisha. The forward had scored on the second bite of the cherry after his initial effort was blocked by the keeper. Just before than in the fifth minute, skipper Meddie Kagere had come close with a shot from the right that whistled narrowly wide.
On the half hour mark, the Rwandese could have doubled the lead but Kevin Muhire’s curling effort from inside the box came cracking under the post.
With the result, Rwanda remain third in Group D with two points from back to back draws while Benin picked their first point after losing their first two games.
Sao Tome draw 2-2 with Sierra Leone
Meanwhile in another match, Sierra Leone twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Sao Tome and Principe in a match played in Agadir, Morocco.
Sao Tome had picked a shock lead two minutes to the break when Luis Leal connected from an Adjeil da Gloria pass.
Sierra Leone regrouped in the second half and equalized through Mustapha Bundu three minutes after the restart when he reacted quickest to a spilled ball.
But, Sao Tome re-took the lead when Leal completed his brace, running on to a through ball before dinking it over the keeper. He would have grabbed a hattrick minutes later, but his brilliant shot from range was turned behind by the keeper.
Sierra Leone however fought to get back on level terms, Abu Komeh powering home from inside the box off an Alhaji Kamara squared ball.
With back to back draws, Sierra Leone remain third in the standings with two points while Sao Tome are bottom of Group A with their first point of the qualifiers.
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