Malen strikes early as Roma take the lead at Lecce
Donyell Malen scored inside four minutes at Lecce, a week after his hat-trick against Fiorentina, with the full-time score not yet reported.
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Early Lead at Lecce
Roma led Lecce after four minutes of their Serie A match, with Donyell Malen scoring the opening goal. OneFootball, citing Football Italia, reported that the goal came after defensive errors, with a poor clearance reaching Hermoso, who found Paulo Dybala, before Danilo Veiga presented Malen with the chance.
The game kicked off at 17.30 UK time as part of the final fixtures of week two of Serie A, the top division of Italian football. Atalanta were due to host Bologna at 19.45 UK time the same evening.
Roma came close to a second goal soon after. At nine minutes a Lecce set play ended with a header over the bar, and Roma broke away, with Dybala flashing an angled drive across the face of goal and Malen booked for trying to connect with his hand. At 12 minutes Matias Soule shot straight at Lecce goalkeeper Falcone from a Manu Kone pass.
Injuries and Missed Chances
Roma were forced into a late change before kick-off. OneFootball reported that defender Evan N'Dicka suffered a right thigh adductor problem in the warm-up, with Daniele Ghilardi coming in, Gianluca Mancini moving central, Hermoso on the left and Ghilardi on the right.
The BBC Sport live commentary records further Roma attempts that did not find the net, including efforts from Wesley, Malen, Soule and a Dybala shot from outside the box saved in the bottom right corner by Falcone. At the other end, Willem Geubbels had a shot saved by Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar after a Santiago Pierotti pass, and Konan N'Dri fired over on a fast break.
Geubbels later went off injured for Lecce and was replaced by Nikola Stulic. The sources do not report the final score. Note that BBC Sport gives the Lecce goalkeeper's name as Wladimiro Falcone, while the Roma site Chiesa Di Totti writes it as Wladimir Falcone.
Build-Up to the Match
Roma began the season by beating Fiorentina 4-0 at the Stadio Olimpico, with Malen scoring a hat-trick assisted by Dybala, leaving them top of the table after the opening round. Chiesa Di Totti argued in its preview that Roma, coached by Gian Piero Gasperini, could not afford to slip against smaller sides, describing Eusebio Di Francesco's Lecce as capable of forcing a 0-0 or 1-1 draw.
Speaking shortly before kick-off, Svilar told reporters that Roma had to build on the Fiorentina result. "We must always look for consistency, against Fiorentina it was only the first," he said, according to RomaPress.
Svilar added that Lecce was "a tough pitch and a heated atmosphere" and that Roma had to impose their game and take the three points. RomaPress reported that Gasperini said before kick-off that his side needed "a top performance".
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