By Admin,

Yannick Mukunzi and Kevin Muhire scored as Rwanda’s U-23 side beat their Somalia counterparts 2-0 in the first leg of the preliminary round of the Caf U-23 qualifiers on Saturday at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali

Mukunzi connected home past Somalia’s goalkeeper Mustaf Khalib Hussein a superb header from a well taken freekick by Jean Marie Vianney Muvandimwe on 17 minutes.

Somalia got their first attempt at goal when Abdinasir Yusuf Ahmed was brought down by Bonfils Kabanda outside the penalty box but teammate Abdikarim Abdalle’s freekick went straight into goalkeeper Marcel Nzarora’s hands.

Substitute Kevin Muhire then stepped forward to score a wonder goal in stoppage, a long range screamer from 40 yards to seal the much needed victory for Johnny McKinstry, his first since taking up the Rwanda job a month ago.

McKinstry said: “To be 2-0 at the end of the first leg of the tie is very pleasing. Overall, my assessment is that we could have done better.

“I think that our second half performance was below the standards we set ourselves, probably a few too many technical errors but when we get back to the training pitch next week, there’s things we need to correct.”

The return leg will be played in Kenya on May 9 with the winner facing Uganda in the next round.

The side that will triumph will face Egypt in the last round of qualification for the Caf U-23 tournament scheduled for December 5-19 in Senegal which will attract eight teams. The top three sides will qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

Additional reporting and photo by supersport.com