Lookman,
the London-born Nigeria striker who began his career at Charlton, produced two
excellent first-half finishes and added a brilliant third 15 minutes from time
as Atalanta romped to a 3-0 success in Dublin.
Victory
gave Atalanta only the second trophy in their 116-year history, over six
decades after the Bergamo side had won the Coppa Italia.
Gian
Piero Gasperini’s team had lost to Juventus in the final of the Coppa Italia
seven days earlier but they recovered from that setback to knock Leverkusen out
of their stride.
And
Lookman, once of Everton, Fulham and Leicester, provided the cutting edge to
reward a polished all-round performance.
Leverkusen
came into the Aviva Stadium showdown fancied to savour more glory in a campaign
that has almost defied belief.
Xabi
Alonso’s side were on the brink of an invincible season having won the first
Bundesliga title in their history.
Leverkusen
had gone 51 games unbeaten and were contesting the Europa League final ahead of
Saturday’s German Cup showpiece occasion against second-tier Kaiserslautern.
But
Leverkusen did not seem prepared for Atalanta’s high press that forced early
mistakes and set the tone of the contest.
Granit
Xhaka was guilty of losing possession for Matteo Ruggeri to set up a headed
opportunity for Gianluca Scamacca.
If that
was a clear warning, Leverkusen did not heed it and Atalanta were ahead after
12 minutes.
Teun
Koopmeiners pounced on a partially-cleared corner and slipped a delightful pass
inside to Davide Zappacosta, who pulled it back into a dangerous area.
The
ball travelled across the box and, with Exequiel Palacios back on his heels and
unaware of imminent danger, Lookman stole in to convert with a firm side-foot.
Josip
Stanisic directed a deflected shot straight at Juan Musso but the Italians
continued to show menace with Scamacca sending a Lookman pass over the
crossbar.
Matters
got worse for Leverkusen after 26 minutes with their failure to maintain
possession and defend the transition again costing them.
Lookman
took care of a loose ball before slipping it through the legs of Xhaka and
finding the net from 20 yards with an unstoppable curling shot.
Leverkusen
should have halved the deficit when Alex Grimaldo was played through and Musso
had advanced too far.
It was
not a difficult task for Grimaldo to chip Musso but his effort failed to clear
the grateful goalkeeper.
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