Super Falcons Captain, Rasheedat Ajibade scored the only goal, as Atletico Madrid won Valencia, by a lone goal in the Spanish Liga F’ on Saturday.
Ajibade’s goal, came in the 45th minute, through a great header, after receiving a fantastic cross from Eva Navarro.
During the first stages of the clash, both teams were testing each other, without showing their weapons in the offensive field. The first ‘oops’ came with a shot from Ajibade after 14 minutes of play. Her shot took a lot of ground, but not enough and passed just a few centimeters from the farthest corner.
Valencia would respond with an action in which Ana Marcos stood in front of Lola Gallardo and tried to surprise her with a diving shot, but Atletico Captain, Lola Gallardo would show a saving hand to send the ball to the corner.
The red and whites were managing to do damage with vertical balls behind the defense. As a result of one of those actions, and after a commotion inside the area, Ana Vitória would look for the first goal of the game with a volley shot, but she did not find the goal. In the last moments of the first half Santos would shoot a ball that he had received in the corner of the area, but his shot crossed too far without finding Canales’ goal. When it seemed that the break would come with the initial result, Eva Navarro centered a ball inside the small area, where Ajibade was going to appear to finish off with a header and put her team ahead on the scoreboard.
In the second half the team came out with bite again, hitting the rival defense again on the run. There were several athletic arrivals in the first minutes: Ajibade, Eva and Ludmila managed to worry the visiting defense, but without the reward of the goal.
At 73 minutes Eva had one of the best opportunities of the second half, thanks to a powerful shot whose thread did not help convert the second goal. Ludmila then completed a good individual action inside the area to set up the shot, but Canales stopped it. In the final stretch Atletico continued trying to increase distances, but there was a lack of precision in the finish. Even so, the referee would end up signaling the match and the three points would stay in Alcalá.
Important victory to keep Atletico in the fight for the Champions place, just before facing a new break for FIFA dates.
