Roma cruise to 4-0 win at Lecce with Malen brace and first Mora goal

Roma put in another dominant performance with Donyell Malen netting twice, Matias Soulé and the first for Rodrigo Mora to conquer Lecce 4-0.

The visitors had the perfect start to their season by crushing Fiorentina 4-0 with a Donyell Malen hat-trick, all from Paulo Dybala assists. New signings Rodrigo Mora, Nahuel Molina, Leonardo Balerdi and Marten de Roon were on the bench , but Robinio Vaz, Neil El Aynaoui and Jan Ziolkowski left in the last 24 hours. Evan Ndicka sustained an adductor injury in the warm-up, replaced by Daniele Ghilardi. Lecce also opened the campaign with a 2-0 victory away to Venezia, welcoming Ivan Ilic, Ali Dembele and Amar Fatah to the squad, but moved to five at the back.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

LECCE, ITALY – AUGUST 31: Head coach of US Lecce Eusebio Di Francesco with head coach of AS Roma Gian Piero Gasperini during the Serie A match between US Lecce and AS Roma at Stadio Via del Mare on August 31, 2026 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images) It took just three minutes to break the deadlock, as Lecce made a complete hash of clearing out from the back, Kialonda Gaspar passing it straight to Malen to drill into the net relatively undisturbed.

Soulé fired straight at the goalkeeper on the Manu Kone assist from the by-line, but there was more suicidal defending when Gaspar passed it straight to Wesley out of defence, who pulled it back from the left for Malen to dink it past Wladimiro Falcone at the near post.

That means Malen has five goals in his first two games of the season, and 19 in a total 20 in the Italian League.

LECCE, ITALY – AUGUST 31: Donyell Malen of AS Roma celebrates his team’s opening goal during the Serie A match between US Lecce and AS Roma at Stadio Via del Mare on August 31, 2026 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images) Moments later Roma had a third, as Dybala found Malen, who generously laid it off for Soulé from the edge of the area, his first shot parried by Falcone, but the Argentine turning in the rebound.

Falcone denied a Malen hat-trick with a tricky save from close range after a give and go with Dybala, while the first Lecce chance came on 38 minutes with Willem Geubbels running onto the Santiago Pierotti through ball to test Mile Svilar.

Soulé bent the dangerous finish inches wide with the inside of the right foot, as did Malen when sent clear through the centre by Dybala in first half stoppages.

The tactical experiment was a failure, so Lecce made two changes at the break and returned to four at the back.

LECCE, ITALY – AUGUST 31: Donyell Malen of AS Roma celebrates his team’s opening goal during the Serie A match between US Lecce and AS Roma at Stadio Via del Mare on August 31, 2026 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images) The gaps remained and Malen scuffed his finish after cutting inside a defender, but more bad news for Lecce, as Geubbels turned his ankle very badly and had to come off.

Lecce nearly got one back from a chaotic set play when it was prodded onto the upright by Gaspar, but Mario Hermoso acrobatically cleared off the line.

Moments later, Dybala should’ve scored on the counter-attack, only to balloon over when clear on goal.

Roma did get their fourth with Rodrigo Mora scoring his first for the club. The substitute kept calm when an initial Nahuel Molina cross was charged down and Gianluca Mancini rolled across for the Portuguese talent to control and sweep home from 10 yards.

Dybala curled just over from the edge of the area, while Ghilardi made a crucial defensive header to stop Nikola Stulic nodding in the N’Dri cross. N’Dri also fired wide when running at Hermoso to cut inside from the right.

Lecce 0-4 Roma Malen 4, 23 (R), Soulé 25 (R), Mora 65 (R)

31-08-2026 17:30

MatchDay 2

Stadio Ettore Giardiniero - Via del Mare

Lecce

Roma

0 - 4

Player statistic

1st half

4'

Donyell Malen

9'

Donyell Malen

23'

Donyell Malen (Assist: Wesley)

25'

Matìas Soulé

2nd half

65'

Rodrigo Mora (Assist: Gianluca Mancini)

Ivan Ilić

90'

Match statistic

36

Possession %

64

7

Total shots

15

3

Shots on target

8

4

Shots off target

7

2

Corners

1

Offsides

9

9

Fouls

8

Lecce

Roma

Starting lineups

30

Wladimiro Falcone Goalkeeper

3

Corrie Ndaba Defender

17

Danilo Veiga Defender

5

Jamil Siebert Defender

4

Kialonda Gaspar Defender

44

Tiago Gabriel Defender

46'

29

Lassana Coulibaly Midfielder

28

Olaf Gorter Midfielder

46'

79

Oumar Ngom Midfielder

72'

50

Santiago Pierotti Attacker

72'

69

Willem Geubbels Attacker

54'

99

Mile Svilar Goalkeeper

77

Emanuele Lulli Defender

5

Evan Ndicka Defender

23

Gianluca Mancini Defender

22

Mario Hermoso Defender

43

Wesley Defender

60'

4

Bryan Cristante Midfielder

17

Manu Koné Midfielder

67'

14

Donyell Malen Attacker

67'

18

Matìas Soulé Attacker

60'

21

Paulo Dybala Attacker

84'

Substitutes

1

Marco Bleve Goalkeeper

25

Antonino Gallo Defender

10

Medon Berisha Midfielder

2

Ali Dembélé Defender

18

Gaby Jean Defender

8

Sadik Fofana Defender

31

Elijah Scott Defender

33

Plamen Penev Goalkeeper

34

Hjalte Lærke Attacker

22

Paco Esteban Attacker

14

Youssef Maleh Midfielder

46'

11

Konan N’Dri Attacker

46'

9

Nikola Stulic Attacker

54'

20

Ivan Ilić Midfielder

72'

7

Amar Fatah Attacker

72'

Leonardo Balerdi Defender

95

Pierluigi Gollini Goalkeeper

3

Konstantinos Koulierakis Defender

87

Daniele Ghilardi Defender

70

Giorgio De Marzi Goalkeeper

20

Nahuel Molina Defender

60'

86

Rodrigo Mora Midfielder

60'

61

Niccolò Pisilli Midfielder

67'

9

Santiago Castro Attacker

67'

Marten de Roon Midfielder

84'