By Korede James
Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman put behind him his issues with head coach Gian Piero Gasperini to score twice in Atalanta’s 5-0 win at Empoli in Serie A on Sunday night.
Lookman’s clash with Gasperini dominated headlines in the past few days following his penalty miss against Club Brugge in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash.
The Italian tactician slammed the Nigeria international for the miss during his post-match presser, a statement Lookman described as disrespectful.
Atalanta lost the second leg play-off encounter 3-1 and crashed out of the competition 5-2 on aggregate.
But all that was cast aside as the Lookman posted a five-star performance by netting twice in the dominant win.
Lookman put Atalanta 3-0 up on 43 minutes as he received a pass inside the box, dribbled past the Empoli keeper and slotted into an empty net.
The African Player of the Year then made it 4-0 on 55 minutes, racing on to a through pass, beating his marker with a step over and drilling a low shot past the keeper.
It is now 12 goals and five assists in 20 matches for Lookman in Serie A this season.
The 27-year-old has found the back of the net three times in his last two matches.
The win means Atalanta remain in third place in Serie Aand just three points behind leaders Inter Milan, while Empoli are 18th.
In France, Super Eagles winger Moses Simon was on target as Nantes defeated visiting Lens 3-1 in their Ligue 1 clash on Sunday.
It is an important win for Nantes as it gave their fight against relegation a big boost.
The victory means the Canaries moved up to 14th in the table, and are now five points away from the relegation play-off spot and seven points from the drop zone.
Simon converted a 60th minute penalty to put Nantes 2-0 ahead.
Louis Leroux had opened the scoring for Nantes on 36 minutes while Mechak Elia got the third goal in added time.
Simon has now taken his tally in the French elite division this season to six goals and seven assists in 21 matches.
