Atlético Femenino earn vital wins to preserve leadership

Atlético Femenino collected two straight vital wins against Fundacion Albacete and Sporting Huelva to preserve their leadership in the Primera División, four points ahead of fellow title challengers Barcelona.

Atlético’s next commitment will be on March 13, when they take on Tacuense, following Spain WNT’s commitment in the Algarve Cup, where several Atlético players featured for victorious Spain.

In the first match, against Albacete, Atleti snatched the winning goal on 92 minutes through Laura Fernandez after the visitors gave them a run for their money. Albacete were more spirited in the early minutes of the encounter but as time went by, the hosts started to gain territory and on 17 minutes, Sonia Bermúdez almost broke the deadlock. But Albacete’s no. 1 was alert to avert the danger.

Atlético stretched the field and tried to harm Albacete through the flanks. They almost made the pressure count when Marta Corredera’s effort struck the crossbar.

After the change of ends, Albacete focused on operating on counter-attacks, but the latter’s defensive line was clever enough to clear the danger.

As the match headed to a stalemate, Fernandez chested the ball into the net following a cross from Kenti Robles, and amid the protests from Albacete, Atlético breathed life into their title pursuit.

In last Sunday’s encounter, las rojiblancas registered a dramatic victory, after recuperating a two-goal deficit to beat Sporting Huelva 2-3 away and remain top of the league. The match was fairly-balanced until Huelva forged ahead on 23 minutes through Martin Prieto. Atletico levelled terms on 33 minutes, when Sonia Bermudez found the net, cementing her leadership in the goal scorers table.

After the interval, Huelva went in front once again courtesy of Prieto and as Atleti’s winning mentality was put to the test, the latter did not hesitate to show why they are in the driving seat for the title as Bermúdez and youngster Andrea Falcón grabbed a goal each to turn the tables and seal a highly-important win. The march toward a first league title since the 2001 re-establishment continues.