Tabitha beats target
Revered France-based Malawi women’s footballer Tabitha Chawinga has beaten her target to score 20 goals in her debut season for Paris Saint Germain (PSG) Women.
The Scorchers skipper scored her 21st goal on Saturday when the Parisians thumped St Etienne 5-0 in the French First Division.
The goal, which was the fourth for PSG, took her tally in the league to 14, two more than second-placed Ada Hegerberg of Lyon.
The 27-year-old is also joint leading scorer in the Coupe de France with four goals and she has also scored three in the Uefa Women’s Champions League.
Against St Etienne, she also provided two assists to lead the chart with 10.
The prolific forward, who has been named Player of the Month of February in the French flagship league, told PSG TV upon sealing her one-year loan deal from Chinese Women’s Super League side Wuhan Jiangda that her target would be to score 20 goals or more.
In an interview yesterday, Tabitha said she is happy with her consistency in scoring that has seen her meet her target.
“But credit should go to my teammates and the coaches because without them, I can’t keep up the momentum, they have been very supportive,” she said.
Despite Saturday’s victory, PSG are still second in the 12-team league with 46 points, eight behind leaders Lyon.
Meanwhile, Tabitha’s sister Temwa came off the bench in her debut for Kansas City to provide two assists as they beat Portland Thorns 5-4 in their opening US Women’s National Soccer League also on Saturday.
Kansas were leading 3-1 when the Malawian star was introduced in the 60th minute and she did it to perfection by setting up two goals to extend their lead to 5-1
But the Horns did not give up hope and scored three goals in succession to reduce the deficit to 5-4 and ensure a nervy finish.
At this juncture, Temwa and her teammates couldn’t wait for the final whistle as the Horns attacked wave after wave and there were scenes of jubilation from the entire Kansas franchise when the referee blew the final whistle.
In a post-match interview, Temwa said she was excited to get a run.
She said: “I am glad that I was given a chance to play and that we have won our first match at home. It wasn’t easy, but we did our best as a team and got the all-important three points so, yes, I am very excited.”
