22nd May, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Nigerian forward, Ademola Lookman scored a hat-trick on Wednesday as Atalanta thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 to win the Europa League trophy in Dublin, Ireland.
The Nigerian striker made history as he becomes the first player to score a hat-trick in Europa League final. He also helped Atalanta to win their first continental trophy in 49 years.
The defeat ended Leverkusen’s 51 games unbeaten run of the season in all competition.
Leverkusen opened the scoring 12 minutes into the match. Davide Zappacosta fed the ball through to Lookman, who picked up the pass inside the box and quickly sent it into the left side of the goal.
Lookman got his brace in the 26th minute of the match. The ball rebounded and arrived at his feet just outside the box. Lookman fired a great shot into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0.
In the 35th minute, Alejandro Grimaldo came close to scoring but should have done much better. His poor attempt from close range ended up in the gloves of Juan Musso.
Eight minutes minute later, Charles De Ketelaere placed a shot from the edge of the box towards the bottom right corner, but Matej Kovar made a terrific save to deny him.
Lookman completed his hat-trick in the 75th minute. He made a great solo run and pulled the trigger from inside the box, beating Matej Kovar with a strike under the crossbar to make it 3-0.