By Ola Kay
An outstanding display by reigning African Footballer of the Year and Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman scoring a brace, leading Atalanta to a 5-0 victory over Empoli on Sunday evening, is now generating positive reactions.
This is coming at a time the player garnered some criticism from manager Gian Piero Gasperini.
Opta report says the Nigerian forward became the first player to score more than ten goals in each of the last three Serie A outings after getting on the score sheet in the 43rd minute.
Recall that same player had been under close watch after he lost a penalty in Atalanta’s UEFA Champions League defeat to Club Brugge, with Gasperini questioning his decision to take the spot-kick.
But, Lookman reacted to his criticism by saying it was disrespectful to him. And he soon recovered from this around by his excellent performance, scoring Atalanta’s third goal just before halftime.
He demonstrated the stuff he was made of when he got a pass from Mario Retegui and rounded the goalkeeper and that saw him netting the ball successfully.
Lookman had his brace in the second half after a pass from Marten de Roon, driving forward from the center circle before finding the bottom right corner with a direct to the point left-footed strike.
With this remarkable performance, the player now made his season tally to 17 goals and 7 assists in 29 matches across all competitions.
In the 76th minute, the Super Eagle’s forward player was replaced by Colombian fullback Juan Cuadrado.
Emmanuel Gyasi’s own goal and a strike from Mario Retegui put Atalanta two goals ahead before Ademola Lookman added to the tally.
However, Italian defender Davide Zappacosta sealed the victory with a fifth goal, finishing off an assist from Mario Pasalic.
Lookman’s present performance may be described as good motivation for the Super Eagles coach, Eric Chelle, who will be depending on the forward player to make a difference in Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers outings against Rwanda and Zimbabwe come March.
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