Nigeria striker Oshoala scores to lift first silverware with Barcelona

Asisat Oshoala has begun to realise her dreams in Spain as she helped Barcelona win the 2019 Copa Catalunya after a 4-0 win over Espanyol in the final on Saturday.

The Nigeria international, who initially joined the Liga Iberdrola side on loan in January before securing a permanent deal with her convincing form, scored eight goals in 11 games in June.

Since her arrival, the Blaugrana crumbled in the race for the Spanish Liga Iberdrola and the Women's Champions League titles, leaving the FC Robo product no chance to celebrate a silverware.

Heading to Saturday's final, Oshoala had scored to help her side to a 5-1 win over the Seagulls in the pre-season competition at the Estadi Municipal Palamos Costa Brava on Thursday.

The two-time Chinese Women's Super League title-winner started where she left off in their opener two days ago, as she almost put Barca in front but was denied two minutes into the encounter.

In the 11th minute, last season's Liga Iberdrola runners-up came close for the opener but no one was there to finish off Oshoala's cross.

After a few botched attempts, Barcelona finally broke the resistance of Espanyol when Alexia Putellas teed up the Super Falcons star to blast home in the 24th minute.

In the 31st minute, Mariona Caldentey found a breakthrough and did not hesitate to double the lead for Barcelona as they gained a 2-0 advantage going into the half time break.

After the restart, the Periquitos suffered a huge setback as they were reduced to 10 players after Letti Sevilla was sent off for a poor challenge in the 59th minute.

Four minutes later, Barca won a penalty and Caldentey did not miss the chance from the spot to hit her brace and the third of the match for Lluís Cortes' side.

A minute from regulation time, Claudia Pina got on the scoresheet as Barcelona clinched their fourth of the encounter to silence the league counterparts and guaranteed their triumph in Palamos.​

The result means Oshoala has finally won her first trophy with the Liga Iberdrola outfit, scoring nine goals in six games for Cortes' side this season and 17 in 17 overall.

After the match, she is expected to join the Nigeria women's team for the Tokyo Olympic Games qualifier clash with Algeria on Monday.