La Liga
Gift Monday opens Spanish Liga F account with a brace against Levante Las Planas
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Nigeria forward Gift Monday opened her Spanish Liga F goal with a brace in UDG Tenerife’s 3-2 win over Levante Las Planas.
The 21-year-old returned to club duties from an impressive outing in the international break with the Super Falcons following a 2-1 victory over Haiti on April 7 and 3-0 triumph over New Zealand four days.
The former FC Robo Queens captain had made 11 starts in 15 appearances since joining the Spanish side in November and finally broke her duck against the Barcelona based outfit on the return from international duty.
Paola Hernandez in the 21st minute set up Monday who notched her first Spanish league goal and her side’s first goal of the encounter.
The hosts, however, were gifted a leveler in the 32nd minute thanks to Gavira Collado’s unfortunate own goal.
After the restart, Ivory Coast forward, Koko assisted Monday to restore UDG Tenerife’s lead in the 62nd minute.
20 minutes later, the hosts found their way back into the contest thanks to Irina Uribe’s equalizer.
With the contest destined for a stalemate, the visitors were gifted a chance from the spot and Jassina Blom scored from the spot to hand Tenerife the all important winner at the death.
Gift played full 90 minutes for UDG Tenerife as she opened her goal account for the season in the league with her brace after two assists in her previous appearances.
On the other hand, Rita Chikwelu replaced Paz Vilas Dono in the 84th minute, while Ngozi Okobi was not dressed for Las Planas.
UDG Tenerife moved to the sixth position on the log with 36 points after 25 games while Las Planas seats in the 11th place with 20 points.
