Rinsola Babajide delivered an exceptional woman-of-the-match display to inspire UD Costa Adeje Tenerife to a cracking 5-0 victory against Sevilla in their Primera División Femenina clash on Saturday, Soccernet.ng reports.
Babajide defined brilliance in her own style inside the Campo de Fútbol de Adeje as she scored once and assisted three other goals to almost single-handedly lead Tenerife to a memorable win.
Before hosting Sevilla, Tenerife had won none of their league games in 2024, with the team’s last triumph coming in a 2-0 victory against Granada on December 9.
Only last week, Tenerife suffered their worst defeat in 26 months when they succumbed to a humiliating 7-0 defeat at Barcelona.
Babajide played the first 67 minutes of that encounter, but she retained the trust of head coach José Herrera, who named her again in the starting lineup versus Sevilla.
It took Babjide only two minutes to repay that trust as she set up Thaís Ferreira to open the scoring for Tenerife.
In the 24th minute, Babajide got her name on the score sheet with a smashing shot from the edge of the box into the top corner, leaving goalkeeper Esther Sullastres with no chance.
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The Nigeria international was not done yet, though, as she assisted María Estella to make it three-nil for the home side in the 39th minute.
Belgian attacker Jassina Blom scored the fourth for Tenerife on the stroke of halftime.
Shortly after the break, Babajide completed her hat-trick of assists when she combined with María Estella once again to round up the scoring for Tenerife.
Compatriot Gift Monday replaced Babajide midway into the second half. Earlier, Super Falcons midfielder Toni Payne was introduced from the bench for Sevilla at halftime, but there was no magical comeback for the visitors.
Babajide, who joined Tenerife from Real Betis on a free transfer last July, has netted three league goals in 21 appearances for the club.
The ex-Liverpool star is a former England youth international and was part of the England U20s squad that claimed bronze at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
However, she decided to play international football for Nigeria. The 25-year-old forward received her first call-up in October 2023 and made her debut on 25 October 2023, starting in a 1–1 draw with Ethiopia during 2024 Olympic qualifying.
