They invested in Artem Dovbyk and also brought in Evan Ferguson on loan, but Gian Piero Gasperini was not satisfied with what he had been offered. There was no cutting edge, no ruthlessness — simply not enough goals. At the Olimpico last January, the idea emerged of bringing in Donyell Malen on a paid loan from Aston Villa. A purchase option was agreed, and it soon became obvious: he was the one. The Olimpico would be his new home. There was absolutely no question about whether he would be signed permanently. He simply had to be. In his first five Serie A appearances, he was almost as productive as the great Gabriel Batistuta. Only Donyell Malen, alongside Batigol, had scored more than five goals for Roma in Serie A during that period. He continued to torment opposing defenses and goalkeepers, and now, after Roma exercised their option to sign him for 25,000,000 euros, he has carried on where he left off. He scored a hat-trick against Fiorentina, and today he added two against Lecce in another outstanding Roma performance — 0-4.
The Via del Mare saw what the Olimpico witnessed last week: Roma at jet speed! Gian Piero Gasperini probably will not be overly effusive in his praise even now, and he certainly will not get dragged into talk of the Scudetto. He will also have a few more arguments to use on the final day of the transfer window to pressure the club into bringing in another player, giving him more options for the Champions League and Serie A. But the old fox will surely be smiling to himself when he is alone, when nobody is watching, because his Roma look very, very good. They really are flying at the start of the season, scoring eight goals in two games, and Donyell Malen is a story in himself. His start has been beastly. Paulo Dybala set up every one of his goals against Fiorentina, whereas today the story was slightly different. For the first, he followed La Joya, picked up the ball after the Argentine failed to put it away and finished the job himself. Soon afterwards, he elegantly lifted the ball over Vladimiro Falcone, delicately chipping the ball over the Lecce goalkeeper from Wesley's cross.
The Dutch striker could easily have scored at least one more. He was everywhere, lurking inside Lecce's penalty area, getting in behind defenders, looking for space and constantly finding himself in scoring positions. His best chance came when left wing-back Emanuele Lulli, whom Gian Piero Gasperini selected from the start instead of Nahuel Molina, unlike in the opening league game, picked him out. His already impressive numbers could easily have been even better… Not only has he scored five goals in Roma's opening two Serie A games this season, but since arriving at the club in mid-January, he has scored 19 goals in Serie A alone, plus another in the Europa League. The sheer absurdity of his league numbers is best illustrated by the fact that only Gunnar Nordahl (20 in 1949) and José Altafini, nicknamed Mazzola (20 ten years later), had comparable — and marginally better — figures.
He is a dangerous weapon for Roma, but this team has several of them. Paulo Dybala did not register either a goal or an assist today, although he could have got on the scoresheet had he been a little more composed just after the hour mark. By then, Roma already had a three-goal lead, with Matías Soule joining Malen on the scoresheet and seemingly sending a message of his own: I'm not for sale. He has been linked with several clubs, most notably Newcastle and Fulham, and there is still a chance he could leave the Olimpico. But Gian Piero Gasperini will certainly think long and hard about it. For now, he has a very pleasant selection headache, and it became even more pleasant when an attack involving Manu Kone, Donyell Malen and Gianluca Mancini was finished off by Rodrigo Mora. Scoring his first goal so quickly will do wonders for the young Portuguese gem's confidence.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 2FridayMilan – Venezia 2-0 (0-0)/Ramos 69, Halhal 89 og/SaturdayFiorentina – Frosinone 0-3 (0-2)/Raimondo 26, 68, Bracaglia 38/Monza – Udinese 2-3 (1-3)/Colpani 37, Varela 63 – Piotrowski 32, Kamara 45, Ekkelenkamp 45+3/Sassuolo – Torino 2-1 (1-1)/Volpato 32, Berardi 78 – Comuzzo 45+2/Juventus – Parma 2-0 (0-0)/Gonzalez 63, Koopmeiners 88/SundayNapoli – Como 1-2 (1-2)/Hojlund 30 – Baturina 17, Douvikas 34/Cagliari – Inter 0-1 (0-1)/Calhanoglu 9/Lazio – Genoa 1-0 (1-0)/Frattesi 25/MondayLecce -Roma 0-4 (0-3)/Malen 4,23, Soule 25, Mora 65/21.45: (1.95) Atalanta (3.50) Bologna (3.90)***odds are subject to change***