By Olaitan Ibrahim
Ademola Lookman made a goalscoring return to the Atalanta fold, as he netted the opener for La Dea in their Serie A match-day 36 crunch fixture against AS Roma on Monday night, to bring his tally for the season to 14 after 30 matches, as per a report.
The 27-year-old was absent from Atalanta’s training session late last week, with reports of an inflamed achilles tendon, being the hot subject of debate as the 2024 UEFA Europa League winners prepared for their match-day 36 crunch clash against Roma at the Gewisa stadium in Bergamo.
Despite concerns surrounding Lookman’s injury, he was subsequently passed fit, and the reigning CAF Africa Player of the Year was included in the travelling squad, which took on the Giallorossi in Monday’s Serie A clash.
Before the Roma fixture, third-placed Atalanta were on a four-match unbeaten run (W3, D1), which culminated in a 4-0 demolition of already-relegated Monza last time out.
Although, Gian Piero Gasperini’s men can no longer win the Serie A title, after three successive league defeats put paid to their ambitions early last month, Lookman and Co still have plenty to play for, as they bid to secure qualification for the UEFA Champions League qualification, something they have not been able to do via their league position since the 2020/2021 campaign.
Lookman has been an outstanding figure for Atalanta this season, netting 14 times in Italy’s topflight and a total of 19 goals across 38 appearances.