Rome Defeats Fiorentina 4-0: Donyell Malen on Fire, Niccolò Pisilli Also Scores

Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma get off to a strong start to the season, defeating an ambitious and heavily revamped Fiorentina on the first matchday of the 2026-2027 Serie A season: At the Olimpico, the Giallorossi won 4-0, led by Donyell Malen, who immediately picked up where he left off at the end of last season, scoring the decisive hat trick.

After some early back-and-forth, the match came to life in the 20th minute, when one of Roma’s new signings, Portuguese forward Rodrigo Mora, fired a shot toward the top corner, only to be denied by De Gea, who made a fine save to keep the ball out of the net. The Spanish goalkeeper, however, was powerless in the 27th minute: Dybala made a great run down the right, passing to Malen, who shook off Dodô’s mark and scored to make it 1-0.

Fiorentina, which had held its own well up to that point, was unable to mount an effective response. Grosso stuck with his starting lineup, but the decision didn’t pay off early in the second half as the home team sealed the victory: in the 52nd minute, Malen doubled the lead again on an assist from Dybala, firing an unstoppable shot past De Gea, in the 60th minute, the third goal came again from the Dybala-Malen combination, with the Dutchman this time tapping it into an empty net after yet another dazzling dribble by La Joya.

Malen was substituted in the 68th minute to applause (replaced by Santiago Castro); the match was effectively over, but in the 86th minute, the Giallorossi added to their lead through Pisilli, who made it 4-0 in the 86th minute, shortly after coming on for Manu Koné: set up by Soulé (who himself had come on for Rodrigo Mora in the 53rd minute), the 21-year-old kept his cool in front of De Gea and put his name on the Giallorossi’s fourth goal.

For Roma, these are three already important points, earned despite the shortage of wingers (Lulli, born in 2007, played on the right) and a transfer window that’s still in full swing. For Fiorentina, it’s already time for an assessment: the new signings (Mastantuono, Atta, Pellegrino, among others) didn’t shine, and they’ll need a different team on Saturday against Frosinone to avoid triggering an unexpected crisis right at the start of the season.