February 13, (THEWILL) – The peerless Barcelona Femeni won their 22nd game in a row in the Liga Iberdrola on Sunday, with highest goal-scorer Asisat Oshoala on the score sheet again.
Barca travelled to Athletic Club, who came into the game in high form, having won four of their previous five league games. Due to an injury to Caroline Graham Hansen, the visitors had to make a change on the right side, with Mariona Caldentey coming back from her own injury.
Irene Paredes and Lucia Garca, who appeared to be the home team’s primary threat, were engaged in a good tussle. Athletic Club was able to burst quickly from midfield thanks to misplaced passes, but they were unable to threaten the Barca goal.
Barca increased their pressure as Oshoala forced Mariona to save a cross in the 25th minute before a Leila header was cleared off the line. Marta Torrejón fired another salvo which did not find the car net, while Alexia had two shots from outside the area. On the half-turn, Lieke Martens received the ball and fired over.
After 35 minutes, Paredes limped off injured and was replaced by Andrea Pereira. For a time, this appeared to agitate the Barca defence, resulting in Athletic Club shooting a ball across the box that they could not finish.
Then, Marta Torrejón intercepted the ball just outside the Athletic Club box in the 42nd minute, allowing Martens to supply Oshoala, whose shot was stopped by the keeper, before Marta Torrejón blasted in the rebound to make the score 0-1 at halftime.
After the restart, it took only 5 minutes for Barça to score, with Marta Torrejón lofting in a superb pass from the inside right channel, which Oshoala completed into the left corner to make it 0-2 after demonstrating quick feet.
Barca was playing better as the second half wore on but they still mishandled passes in transition, which showed that Athletic Club remained a threat. However, the game was virtually over soon after.
Caldentey finished with a controlled volley into the corner from a rebound after Mapi Leon took a corner that was cleared to outside the box. Martens hooked it back in over her head and Caldentey finished with a controlled volley into the corner after a rebound.
Barca manager Jonatan Giráldez then made three substitutions: Fridolina Rolfö for Leila Ouahabi, Ingrid Syrstad Engen for Patricia Guijarro, and Aitana Bonmati for Oshoala, with Claudia Pina replacing Caldentey after she received a yellow card.
The corner count continued to rise, and despite chances for Jennifer Hermoso, Alexia Putellas, and Bonmati, the score stayed 0-3 in what turned out to be a convincing Liga Iberdrola victory.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
