Super Eagles and Atalanta winger, Ademola Olajade Lookman, became the first man in the history of the UEFA Europa League to score a hat-trick in a one-legged final, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 27-year-old versatile forward lit up the AFCON 2023 with scintillating performances before defying the odds by ending Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s unbeaten run at the Aviva Stadium in Ireland.
Alonso decided to bench the Nigerian duo of Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella while opting for the attacking trio of Amine Adli, Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz, but they couldn’t match the physicality of the Atalanta defence.
Lookman opened the scoring twelve minutes into the game, benefitting from a Davide Zappacosta cut-back, before tapping home with his left foot.
The former Leipzig man swept past Granit Xhaka before putting the ball into Matej Kovar’s bottom corner to double the lead for Gian Piero Gasperini’s men.
He completed the hat trick in style, blazing past Edmond Tapsoba before putting his left boot through the ball, sending it into the top corner.
Following the hat-trick, Ademola became the first-ever player to score three goals in a UEFA Europa League one-legged final. He’s also the first-ever Nigerian to win the man of the match award in the final of the Europa League.
Lookman, alongside Gian Piero Gasperini, helped Atalanta to win their first-ever trophy in Europe. While the Nigeria International might be looking to exit Bergamo, his performance in Dublin would be the perfect way to bow out on a high.
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