Tag: Payne

Nigerian winger Tony Payne played a pivotal role for Sevilla Femenino in their crucial 2-1 away victory over Villarreal Femenino, keeping their Champions League qualification dream alive in the Spanish Women’s Premier League.

The opening exchanges at the Ciudad Deportiva Villarreal stadium were cagey, with both sides prioritizing defense. Sevilla had the first noteworthy chance through Eva Llamas, but her header from a set-piece by Amanda Sampedro went astray. Despite controlling possession and creating more opportunities, Sevilla lacked the cutting edge to break through Villarreal’s resolute defense and Carmen Carbonell’s exceptional goalkeeping in the first half.

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Villarreal struck first after the break with a well-placed header by Kayla McKenna from a Francisca Lara cross. However, Sevilla responded emphatically just two minutes later. Tony Payne, who had a quiet first half, came alive with a moment of magic. Her sublime cross found Inma Gabarro, who expertly slotted the ball home with her right foot.

Payne continued to torment Villarreal’s defenders and nearly doubled Sevilla’s lead in the 56th minute. Her left-footed strike after a clever pass from Sampedro was well-saved by Carmen once again. The game remained tense with both sides searching for a winner.

A controversial penalty decision swung the match in Sevilla’s favor in the 73rd  minute. Ainoa Campo’s handball in the box resulted in a spot-kick, which Rosa Otermín coolly converted. Sevilla held on for a vital victory that keeps their European hopes alive.

Sevilla Femenino will now set their sights on welcoming relegation-threatened Eibar in Matchday 25 of the Spanish Women’s Premier League. They will be hoping to build on this momentum and continue their push for a Champions League spot.

Seville of Spain midfielder  Toni Payne and Juventus attacker Jennifer Echegini have both stressed that Nigerians do not have reasons to fret ahead of the second leg of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Qualifiers with the Banyana Banyana of South Africa today in Pretoria.

Payne who admitted that the Super Falcons were guilty of several misses chances  against the Banyana in Abuja, said they hope to convert their chances in Pretoria  in order to qualify for the 2024 Olympics after  16-year  absence.

“I think we had a really great game. We had most of the game under  control. We attacked them a lot. They didn’t have enough chances against us except for some few in the second half,” Payne said.”We are really confident that we could build on the home win. We are just hoping we would be able to step it up in the next game.

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“The tempo at the national level is quite high. We have a really good team and we trust each other and I feel the goals would come.”

Speaking in the same vein, Echegini who recently bagged a hat trick for Juventus shortly before the first leg tie with the Banyana, has urged her teammates to be more clinical in Pretoria.

She  noted  that the team with the higher number of goals would pick one of  two  continental  tickets  to  the Olympic Games .

“The game(in Abuja)  was good and I feel we played well. It is good to have some new girls among us and going into the game on Tuesday (today), we just have to be more clinical because at the end of the day goals win games. We need to score more goals in Pretoria. It is going to be tough on Tuesday (today) but let’s go finish the job,” Echegini stressed.

“I am 100 percent confident that we would pick the Olympic Games ticket. Since we want it, we should go for it and I have implicit trust in the technical crew and my teammates that we would get the job done.”