The Africans were in action for their respective sides in the semi-final but it was Oshoala that inched closer to a double
Asisat Oshoala scored twice for Barcelona as the side progressed to the Spanish Copa de la Reina final following a 6-0 win over Zenatha Coleman and Toni Payne’s Sevilla on Thursday.
Nigeria‘s Oshoala continued from where she left off in the last term when she netted 26 times in the 2019-20 season, including 20 goals in 19 league outings as her side celebrated their first title since 2015.
On their part, Nigeria’s Toni Payne joined Sevilla from the Netherlands‘ Eredivisie outfit Ajax in 2018, while Namibia’s Zenatha Coleman arrived at the club from rivals Valencia this summer.
To reach the last four, Sevilla thrashed Levante 3-0 before they beat Madrid by the same result, while Barcelona silenced Sporting Huelva 4-0 before they edged past Deportivo La Corona 1-0 in February.
After coming on as a substitute in a 4-0 win over Real Madrid, Oshoala made the starting XI of Barcelona, just as Coleman and Payne were starters for Cristian Toro after a recent 1-1 draw with Santa Teresa.
At Estadi Johan Cruyff, Barcelona started like a house on fire as expected when Oshoala opened the scoring from Patri Guijarro’s pass after just four minutes into the encounter.
14 minutes later, Alexia Putellas set up Caroline Graham Hansen for a fine finish to double the lead for the hosts before Patri Guijarro got on the scoresheet thanks to Mapi Leon’s assist in the 21st minute.
Sevilla, however, came close to gain an equaliser for the visitors after she dribbled past her marker on the edge of the box but her effort went wide in the 37th minute.
Seven minutes from half time, Leila Ouahabi sent through a brilliant pass from the left for Oshoala to bag her second goal of the match and her side’s fourth to head into the break with a comfortable lead.
After the restart, Payne made a fine run into the hosts’ area but could not make the best of her chance for Sevilla in the 55th minute before she was replaced by Ana Franco eight minutes later.
The rampant Catalans went on to bag their fifth of the match through Melanie Serrano in the 68th minute before Mariona Caldentey teed up Aitana Bonmati five minute later to complete the rout.
The brace saw Oshoala raise her season tally for the 2019-20 season to 28 and she featured for the duration of the match for Barcelona.
On the other hand, Nambia’s Coleman was involved from the start to finish, while Nigeria’s Payne featured for 65 minutes but they could not save Sevilla from a humiliating semi-final crash.
The result means Barcelona are through to the final and will aim to clinch the double when they square up against Logrono in the final.
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