Abeddy Biramahire spearheaded Rayon Sports to a 2-2 draw against Gorilla on Wednesday night in the first leg of the Peace Cup quarterfinals, thanks to his brace in the range of six minutes.

Rayon Sports players, staff and even fans looked dejected at the end of the first and were desperate to avoid an early exit in the competition, with a 2-0 deficit heading into the half-time break.

However, the 10-time Peace Cup winner turned things around in the second half, and Biramahire contributed significantly as the Rwandan forward had to cancel out Landry Ndikumana and Keddy Nsanzimfura's goals to set up what appears to be a thrilling second-leg contest.

Ndikumana gave Gorilla an early lead with a close-range finish after Frank Nduwimana unselfishly squared to him inside the box in the second minute.

Nsanzimfura doubled the advantage with a wonderful long-range freekick, following Abdul Rahman Rukundo's foul on Nduwimana from roughly 40 yards.

With Rayon Sports starting the second half quickly, Biramahire, who has big shoes to fill after their talisman Fall Ngagne was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign due to injury, reduced the deficit just six minutes after the break.

He lobbed Gorilla goalkeeper Gad Muhawenayo after Hakim Bugingo set him up with a long pass to mark his first goal for Rayon Sports since signing for them in January this year.

Biramahire closed the deficit in the 57 minutes, poking the ball into the back of the net following Hadji Iraguha's head pass to complete Rayon's comeback at Kigali Pele Stadium tonight.

Gorilla were down to 10 men late in the second half after Nsanzimfura was shown a second yellow card following his foul on Aziz Bassane near the corner spot.

Rayon Sports wear shirt to wish their teammate Fall Ngagne a quick recovery

Photo: Rayon Sports players pay tribute to Fall Ngagne, who picked up an ACL injury during their 1-1 draw against Amagaju on 22 February.

Keddy Nsanzimfura

Photo: Keddy Nsanzimfura, who joined Gorilla in January, celebrates his stunning freekick.

In contrast, Police came from behind and defeated AS Kigali, with Abedi Bigiramana Ani Elijah both netted to cancel out Emmanuel Okwi's early goal.

Meanwhile, Amagaju comfortably beat Mukura 2-0 at Huye Stadium, thanks to Jean Claude Dusabe and Masudi Narcisse's goals.

The second-leg matches are scheduled on 4 and 5 March.