Chidinma Okeke was the star of the night as a rock-solid defensive performance helped Madrid CF claim a narrow 1-0 win over Real Betis on match day one of the 2019/20 La Liga Femenine season.
Super Falcons defender Okeke joined Madrid CF recently and was on from start to finish as the home side got their campaign underway with a hard fought victory on Sunday night at the Estadio Municipal Nuevo Matapiñonera in San Sebastián de los Reyes.
Estela Fernandez got the only goal of the game in the 94th minute for coach Víctor Miguel Fernández’s side but all applause were directed at the 19-year-old Nigerian defender who marshalled a defense notorious for leaking goals for fun. Last season Madrid CF ended 13th on the league table after keeping a clean sheet in just three of their last 13 matches.
The Super Falcons defender, before moving to Spain, played for FC Robo in the Nigeria Women Premier League and was part of the Nigerian team that won the 2019 WAFU Women’s Cup in Ivory Coast.
In other games in the Primera Women Division, Asisat Oshoala’s Barcelona crushed Tacon (to be called Real Madrid at the end of the season) by 9 goals to 1.
¡La jornada 1 de #PrimeraIberdrola nos ha dejado 31 G⚽️LAZOS! 😵
¡Seguimos! Esto solo acaba de empezar. 🙋🏼♀️😜
🔜⚽️🌟😍 pic.twitter.com/qvDK5TH4BC
— Primera Iberdrola (@PrimerIberdrola) September 8, 2019
Champions Athletico Madrid Women traveled to Recreativo Huelva to silence them in front of their fans by a lone goal victory. Deportivo La Coruna were 3-1 victors over Espanyol Ladies while Valencia Women and Real Sociedad played out a thrilling two-all draw at the Estadio Antonio Puchades.