Banyana Banyana defeated the Super Falcons 4-2 to win the maiden edition of Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Tournament at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan on Tuesday.
Nigeria’s Alozie Chidi turned the ball into her own net in the sixth minute to give the South Africans an early lead.
The referee then gave the Desiree Ellis-led ladies a penalty kick in the 17th minute after OnomeEbi was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box. The penalty was slotted in by Linda Motlhalo to give the South Africans a two-goal cushion.
The game soon went worse for the Falcons in the 43rd minute after Gabriel Salgado found the back of the net for 3-0 after a goalmouth scrabble.
The third goal came after the Falcons thought they had halved the deficit in the 20th minute, but had their celebrations cut short after the offside flag was raised.
At the beginning of the second half, Falcons coach Randy Waldrum, introduced four players in a bid to get a grip of the game.
His substitutions paid off as Obianujunwa Ikechukwu found the back of the net with a great shot which beat the Banyana Banyana goalkeeper.
The Rivers Angels player doubled her tally in the 53rd minute to make the game 3-2, giving the Falcons a hope for a comeback.
Any comeback hope was extinguished with four minutes of regulation time to play, after the referee pointed to the penalty spot again for South Africa’s second penalty after Motlhalo was brought down in the box.
Mamello Makhabane slotted the ball in the net to give the Banyana Banyana a comfortable 4-2 victory.
