Tusker 0 APR 0: Tusker fail to break down the deep defense while APR couldn’t counter.

Tusker FC were held to a barren draw by the APR of Rwanda in their first leg match of the CAF Champions League.

STARTING XI



The Startin XI

Sammy Omollo made three changes to the starting XI that beat City Stars last week in the Kenyan Premier League. Boniface Oluoch, Brian Mandela and Dennis Makaisi started rather than Samuel Odhiambo, Charles Odete and Fredrick Ojwang’.

APR’s Ernie Brandts started with Mbuya Twite and Alex de Avila Peixoto as the centre backs, Jean Mugiranenza and Faty Papi in central midfield and in the attack, Douglas Lopez partnered Olivier Karekezi.

OPENING PHASE

The game lacked clear chances in its opening stages with both team trying to settle into the game. And they also had most of the play in the midfield area.

The 3 v 2 in the midfield gave Tusker the clear-cut advantage against their opponents in terms of possession and control of the game. Fredrick Onyango and Peter Opiyo were just ahead of Joseph Mbugi who was at the base of the midfield triangle. In APR’s midfield, Mugiranenza was just ahead of the defense line and Papi just in front of him.

Twite Kabange stayed close to Tusker’s outside left – either Paul Were or Patrick Kagogo who switched positions very often – and came infield when his side had the ball to provide support.

APR’S FORMATION

APR started this game with a 4-4-2 formation. Johnson Bagoole and Habib Kavuma were the full backs.  Jean Mugiranenza started in the holding midfield role while Faty Papi broke forward to join in attack when they had the ball. Douglas Lopez and Olivier Karekezi stayed side by side in striking position. But they didn’t see much of the ball in the first half period.

In wide areas, Diego Oliviera stretched the game wide on the left flank and he was majorly used as the outlet by his team mates. Twite Eugene Kabange drifted in to the midfielders.

The two forwards – Karekezi and Lopez – were rarely provided a threat. Karekezi went wide to the right leaving Lopez as a lone striker but still couldn’t get anything out of it as Tusker had most the ball in the first half period.

JEAN MUGIRANENZA

In APR’s midfield, Mugiranenza sat the deepest allowing his partner Faty Papi the freedom to move forward - forming a rare 4-1-2-1-2 formation.

But as the game progressed, he seemed to be more mobile than just sitting ahead of the back four. He dropped back in between the APR’s defense line forming a back five, he man marked Onyango when he moved high up and sometimes even found himself behind the defense line.

SECOND HALF

Tusker still was the better side in terms of possession when the second half started but couldn’t break down APR’s defense. Both actually did create fewer chances when going forward in the second half period; Tusker played around with the ball while APR were happy to sit deep hoping to exploit Tusker’s wide areas when they won the ball.

Set pieces provided chances to both teams but couldn’t capitalise on them.

SUBSTITUTIONS

Tusker used all its three substitutes while APR used two of its reserve players. Three of the five changes made by both team did bring in some tactical changes but the other two didn’t affect the system of either team.

Earlier in the game, Tusker lost Joseph Mbugi due to an injury and was replaced by Maurice Odipo. Odipo stayed side by side with Opiyo to form the double pivot in the midfield while Onyango pushed high up the pitch in what seemed to be a 4-2-1-3 formation.

Obadiah Ndege replaced Patrick Kagogo and he went on to join Mukaisi in the striking position. Maurice Odipo shifted to the right flank, Fred Onyango dropped deep to partner Opiyo and Paul Were on the left flank. The final substitution was a direct swap, taking out a substitute Maurice Odipo – who at this time was playing on the right flank - and replacing him with Fred Ajwang’ in that position.

APR took off Douglas Lopez and replaced him with Dan Wagaluka. They switched to a 4-2-3-1 with Mugiranenza and Papi the double pivot, Wagaluka on the right flank Oliviera on the left and Twite E. Kabange behind the lone forward Karekezi. Oliviera was taken off later in the game and in his place came Jean-Claude Iranzi but it didn’t really affect APR’s system.

CONCLUSION

Tusker did what they were able to do – keep the ball and pass it around – but couldn’t break down APR’s defense line as they lacked that key pass to unlock their opponent’s defense. The lack of a player to play defense spitting passes was evident in this match.

They also had some flashes of improvement in the attack when Obadiah Ndege came on as a substitute.

APR’s defense remained intact for the entire game but they were poor when it came to transition and could not create chances when they won the ball.