I was told to take the penalty – Lookman fires back at Atalanta boss, Gasperini’
Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman has hit back at manager, Gian Piero Gasperini, saying that his comments after the club’s Champions League exit on Tuesday were “deeply disrespectful.”
The Nigerian was a half-time substitute in Atalanta’s Champions League play-off second leg with Club Brugge following his return from injury.
The winger was introduced by Gasperini when the team was 5-1 down on aggregate but took just 36 seconds to pull a goal back.
However, the talking point of the game came on the hour mark after Atalanta were awarded a penalty and Lookman appeared to take the ball away from first-choice options Charles De Ketelaere and Mateo Retegui.
He missed the spot kick, with Gasperini criticizing him after the game.
“Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen,” Gasperini said after the 5-2 aggregate defeat.
“He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them. Retegui and De Ketelaere were there, but Lookman in a moment of enthusiasm after scoring decided to take the ball and that was a gesture I did not appreciate at all.”
However, hours after Gasperini’s comments and the reactions that followed, the Super Eagles star took to social media to release a statement.
In a statement he released on Wednesday in response to those comments, Lookman said: “It saddens me on a day like this to have to write this statement – most of all because of what we have achieved together as a team and as a city.
