Atalanta forward, Ademola Lookman earned a perfect 10/10 rating from popular French newspaper, L’Equipe for his stellar performance against Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Europa League final on Wednesday night, and this accolade has earned him a spot among 18 standout players in the sports media outfit’s history books.
The 26-year-old Nigeria international scored a remarkable hat-trick as Atalanta recorded a 3-0 victory over Leverkusen, who had been unbeaten all season long to clinch the title and subsequently ended the Bergamo club’s 61-year wait for a trophy.
Lookman led the charge as Atalanta crushed Xabi Alonso side’s title hopes in the Europa League. The team that had dominated the Bundesliga and remained unbeatable proved not to be too strong at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
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According to Daily Mail, Lookman is the first player to receive a perfect score from the French publication since Erling Haaland did so last season in the Champions League after netting five goals against RB Leipzig. Lookman joins a very select group of gifted players to have received this honour.
Although, both Haaland’s perfect scores occurred in the same season, he is one of the only two to have received more than one.
Lionel Messi has also received the honor twice, both times while playing for Barcelona (against Leverkusen in 2010 and Arsenal in 2012). Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, has never done so.
Robert Lewandowski, Neymar Jr, Kylian Mbappe, Lucas Moura, Dusan Tadic and Serge Gnabry are some of the notable names to have achieved such feat.
Lookman has had quite a remarkable 2023/24 season. The former Everton man scored 15 goals and provided 8 assists in 43 appearances for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side.
He also scored three goals and made one assist for Nigeria at 2023 Africa Cup of Nations where he contributed greatly as the Super Eagles reached the final of the competition but lost to the host nation, Ivory Coast.
By Habeeb Kuranga
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COMMENTS
He scored 3 at AFCON, not 4 actually
He scored 4 for his Country and not 3
Check your facts again …i don’t want to argue unnecessarily with you
His celebration for the third goal was just a through definition of his name,he looks around nod his head Look Man.
He would have scored 4 self….if a certain teammate of his had pass the ball to him..the commentator even said it…
I believe say them come dey feel say make e no come be only lookman waka come but at the end of the day na only him waka come ..