Spanish forward Esther Gonzalez created a piece of NWSL history with her impressive substitute performance in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Bay FC at Red Bull Arena.
Jenna Nighswonger opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the ninth minute. The 23-year-old was given the chance to fire in off the post after Bay FC were penalized for a handball in the box.
Asisat Oshoala made amends to restore parity in the 18th minute. The former Barcelona striker latched on to Racheal Kundananji’s neat through ball, before she steadied herself to slot past Ann-Katrin Berger.
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Esther Gonzalez makes NWSL history against Bay FC
The contest remained finely poised until Gonzalez came off the bench to inspire a dramatic turn of events.
First, Gonzalez provided an inch-perfect cross for Rose Lavelle to head home in the 70th minute. The ex-Real Madrid forward then scored a header of her own, guiding the ball in after Emily Sonnett had met a deep corner.
Not content with her work, Gonzalez grabbed her second and NJ/NY Gotham FC’s third goal in the 74th minute to etch her name into the history books.
Gonzalez’s two goals and assist all took place in a period of four minutes and 20 seconds, making it the fastest any player has…