January 19, (THEWILL) – In a thrilling match, hot Nigerian forward, Ademola Lookman’s brace saw Atalanta secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia with a 5-2 victory over Spezia.
The team, led by coach Gian Piero Gasperini, made five changes from their previous high-scoring match against Salernitana, but that didn’t stop them from starting strong. Within two minutes, Lookman had scored twice, first by finishing off a header from Scalvini and then by closing a diagonal assist from Zapata.
Spezia fought back with an assist from M’Bala Nzola and a good shot from Albin Ekdal that halved the deficit and brought the score to 2-1. Atalanta’s Hans Hateboer and Spezia’s Daniele Verde scored before the interval. As Spezia pressed for the equaliser, Atalanta’s defence held strong in the 27th minute of the second half.
Atalanta substitute, Rasmus Hojlund, scored with an unstoppable left-foot shot that sealed the victory for Atalanta. However, the final goal of the match came from an own goal by Ampadu, who deflected a shot from Hojlund into his own net.
Atalanta will now face Inter Milan at San Siro on January 31st in the quarter-final match.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.