In a season in which Everton’s current forwards have often left a lot to be desired, a former Toffee’s ‘unstoppable’ form has his current club on the verge of history.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has often flitted from unplayable to anonymous, performances like the one he produced in that Merseyside derby triumph over Liverpool in April unfortunately the exception rather than the rule.
Beto, the £26 million summer signing from Udinese, has shown plenty of endeavour but little end product; just three goals in 29 Premier League appearances.
Even the widemen, Dwight McNeil and Jack Harrison, have performed only intermittently. Only Burnley and Sheffield United, the division’s bottom two sides, have found the net fewer than Sean Dyche’s side, averaging ever-so-slightly over a goal-a-game.
Former Everotn man on the verge of history
It’s fair to say Atalanta do not tend to suffer from similar degrees of stage fright in front of goal.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s famously free-wheeling thespians turned Thursday’s Europa League semi-final into a bit of a song and dance, pirouetting into a first continental final in their history.
And it was a man who became something of a victim of that unrelenting managerial churn at Goodison Park who got the party started during the 3-0 hammering of Marseille in Bergamo.
“Ademola Lookman is simply unstoppable on a good day,” Nigeria legend Sunday Olise wrote on X earlier this month. “Love watching this man play.”
Lookman, once of Everton but also Leicester City and Fulham, certainly enjoyed one of his ‘good days’ when Marseille arrived in Italy, a place in the final of the UEFA Europa League against Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen up for grabs.
The Nigeria international found himself one-v-one with ex-Newcastle United defender Chancel Mbamba midway through the first half. He created a yard of space with a clever shimmy before firing a fierce – if deflected – shot into the back of the L’OM net.
Grabbing an assist later on a one-sided semi-final, Lookman took his tally to 20 goal contributions for 2023/24. In fact, since joining Atalanta two years ago after a hit-and-miss spell at Leicester, the former Charlton Athletic starlet has 27 goals and 16 assists to show for his efforts.
Ademola Lookman ‘unstoppable’ at Atalanta
Everton, it’s fair to say, can fill a novel with the mistakes they made during the disastrous Farhad Moshiri era. But not giving Lookman a chance – cashing in after just seven Premier League starts – feels more and more like another decision the history books will not look back on with a great deal of fondness.
“Some friends wrote to me and complimented me,” Lookman beams to Sky Italia, Atalanta now just 90 minutes away from rewarding iconic head coach Gian Piero Gasperini with the trophy he so deserves.
“I’m happy. From start to finish, we demonstrated our character and our quality. The atmosphere was incredible. There are no words. Our story is beautiful, evenings like this are special. Our support was incredible.
“(Leverkusen) are a top team but so are we, and we believe in (ourselves).”
Lookman, and Gasperini, could yet end 2024/25 with two trophies to their name. La Dea also face Juventus in the Coppa Italia final on May 15th.
Atalanta have wasted 61 years for a major trophy and, like London buses, two might now arrive at once.