Ashleigh Plumptre: Super Falcons star scores a hat-trick in Saudi Women league debut, Video

• Ashleigh Plumptre put up a superb performance in her debut for Al-Ittihad
• The Super Falcons defender scored a hat-trick against the Eastern Flames
• The ex-Leicester City star joins list of Nigerians to score hat-trick in Saudi

Super Falcons star Ashleigh Plumptre scored a hat-trick on her debut for Al-Ittihad in the opening game of the Saudi Arabian Women’s League.

The Tigresses secured a 3-0 win over Eastern Flames 3-0 at the Prince Fahad bin Salman Stadium.

The Nigerian international, who was part of the Super Falcons squad for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, took the Saudi league by storm in her first match.

Plumptre featured in all of Nigeria’s matches before they crashed out of the tournament after losing to England Women in the Round of 16 via a penalty shootout.

The former Leicester City defender opened the scoring on the half-hour mark, according to a report by Daily Post.

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With the scores ending 1-0 before the break, the Nigerian international doubled the lead with a volley fifteen minutes after the restart.

She completed her hat-trick five minutes later to seal the win for Al-Ittihad in their first game of the season.

The 25-year-old's treble against the Eastern Flames put her amongst Nigerian great players like Rashidi Yekini, Ahmed Musa, and Odion Ighalo, who have all scored hat-tricks in Saudi Arabia.

Plumptre is yet to score for the Super Falcons since her debut in 2022.

Plumptre joins Saudi Women Club Al Ittihad

Sports Brief earlier reported that Nigerian international Plumptre has joined Saudi outfit Al-Ittihad, where she will continue with her professional footballing career.

According to a statement by the Saudi outfit, the defender has left English club Leicester City Women on a free transfer.

The Saudis are definitely making strides in their pursuit of global domination when it comes to this move for Plumptre, which like what happened in the men's division could see other female stars taking that leap of faith to the Middle Eastern nation.