Super Eagles attacker Ademola Lookman was the match-winner for Atalanta as they claimed a narrow 1-0 win over Leece at the Gewiss Stadium on Saturday.
In what is set to be his final outing for Atalanta before reporting for international duty having been called up by Nigeria for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, Lookman was handed a starting spot.
AFCON 2023: Atalanta boss Gasperini sad with Lookman’s Super Eagles invitation https://t.co/9DQSwkC1fq
— Daily Post Nigeria (@DailyPostNGR) December 30, 2023
Lookman and Atalanta made a bright start to the contest but were unable to make their early dominance count as Leece stood firm to repel any pressure thrown at them.
A relatively subdued first-half performance saw Lookman fail to register a single shot but the 26-year-old was the creative force for his side on several occasions.
As the second half commenced, Lookman started to exert himself as more of a goalscoring threat and opened the scoring just shy of the hour mark as he found the bottom corner with aplomb after combining with strike partner Gianluca Scamacca.
Lookman came close to doubling his tally 20 minutes from the end of normal time when he was denied by a lovely stop from Wladimiro Falcone.
With his side just about clinging on to their narrow advantage, Lookman was substituted off in second-half stoppage time to a warm reception from the Atalanta faithful.
Atalanta held on to claim all three points and have now moved up to sixth place in the Serie A table as a result.
Ademola Lookman set to star for Super Eagles at 2023 AFCON
Off the back of his best-ever campaign last time out, Ademola Lookman struggled during the early part of the current season but has since returned to form.
The attacker has been involved in nine goals in his last 11 matches across all competitions and currently leads all Atalanta players in terms of goals scored.
⚽ 7 goals
🅰️ 3 assists10 league goal involvements for Ademola Lookman this season 👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/I8SYqeVqMM
— Soar Super Eagles (@SSE_NGA) December 30, 2023
Lookman was a regular for Jose Peseiro's men during the AFCON qualifiers and he is expected to be a constant feature in the tournament proper.
His form of late makes for good reading for Nigeria ahead of the start of their AFCON campaign where the Super Eagles will be looking to enjoy a deep run into the latter stages of the competition.
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago
