Europa League final: Lookman's historic hat-trick inspires Atalanta to 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen

Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman was in majestic form as he scored a historic hat-trick to help Atalanta win their first ever UEFA competition, beating Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella's Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the final of the Europa League played at the Dublin Arena on Wednesday night. 

Lookman opened the scoring for the Italian side in the 12th minute, the Nigerian forward received a pass from Davide Zappacosta inside the penalty area and sent the ball into the left side of the goal.

The 26-year-old would give Atalanta the second-goal cushion with a brilliant individual work, nutmegging former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, before burying his effort into the bottom right corner. 

Lookman showed brilliance yet again in the 75th minute, firing a thunderous shot outside the penalty area to give the Black and Blues a three-goal cushion.

The Atalanta number 11 is the third Nigerian to score in the final of a major UEFA champion, after Alex Iwobi and Joe Aribo did same in 2019 and 2022 respectively.

The former Everton forward also becomes the first player to score three goals in the final of the Europa League. 

By bagging a hat-trick against the Bundesliga champions, the Nigeria international is the sixth player to score a hat-trick in the final of a major European competition but the first to do so in 49 years with Jupp Heyneckes being the last to do so.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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