SUPER Eagles forward Ademola Lookman was the standout player for Atalanta as they defeated Marseille 3-0 tonight to advance to the final of the UEFA Europa League.
The Nigeria international scored one of the goals and assisted another as the Italian side set up the final against Bayer Leverkusen, who benched Super Eagles stars Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella in their semi-final second leg tonight.
Lookman struck the opening goal for Atalanta in Bergamo with a shot from just outside the box in the 30th minute and set up Matteo Ruggeri to make it 2-0 seven minutes after the break.
El Bilal Toure, who replaced Lookman in the 76th minute, netted Atalanta’s third of the night as they eased into their first-ever European final 4-1 on aggregate.
They will face Bayer Leverkusen in the final on May 22 in Dublin, Ireland after the German champions came from behind to draw 2-2 at home with AS Roma tonight.
Without Boniface and Tella, Leverkusen trailed 2-0 to two penalties by Leandro Paredes and were in danger of losing their long unbeaten run with 24 minutes left on the clock.
Xabi Alonso’s side then got a lucky break as Roma’s Gianluca Mancini scored an own goal in the 82nd minute after an error from goalkeeper Mile Svilar.
Josip Stanisic scored the equaliser in the seventh minute of stoppage time to take Leverkusen to the final 4-2 on aggregate and stretch their historic unbeaten run in all competitions to 49 matches.
In the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final, Morocco striker Ayoub El Kaabi scored both goals as Olympiacos defeated Aston Villa 2-0 to advance 6-2 on aggregate to the final, where they will meet Fiorentina.
