Three Malen goals, three Dybala assists — Roma's opening night had one address

Hat-tricks usually get filed under the name of the man who scored them. This one needs two names on the paperwork.

Donyell Malen scored three times at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday night. Paulo Dybala created all three. Roma beat Fiorentina 4-0 to open the 2026-27 Serie A season, and the entire scoreline came down one channel: Dybala carrying the ball on the right, Dybala looking up, Malen arriving. 🇳🇱

The same goal, three times

The first came at 27'. Dybala ran from the right and beat two defenders before rolling it across to Malen, who feinted past Dodô and finished past David de Gea. Fiorentina protested that Mario Hermoso had fouled Franco Mastantuono at the start of the move. The goal stood.

Roma had already had one taken away at 21', Hermoso caught offside. Half-time arrived at 1-0 and it still felt like a game.

It stopped being one seven minutes into the second half. Hermoso launched a long ball, Dybala skipped past João Mário and squared it left, and Malen accelerated onto it and drilled a left-footed shot inside the near post. 2-0 at 52'.

Eight minutes later, the same picture again: Dybala down the right, a square ball, Malen finishing first time. 3-0 at 60', and the first Serie A hat-trick on an opening matchday since Carlos Bacca did it for Milan against Torino in August 2016.

Grosso's debut, and there was nothing to work with

Fabio Grosso's first competitive night in charge of Fiorentina produced four touches in the Roma penalty area. Four. Roma had 39 in theirs.

The expected goals read 2.83 to 0.28. Fiorentina got four shots on target from nine attempts and Mile Svilar dealt with them; David de Gea made four saves at the other end and still picked the ball out of his net four times. Moise Kean, linked with a move to Como all week, started on the bench.

Niccolò Pisilli closed it at 86'. Matías Soulé, on off the bench, played him in; a lucky ricochet off Rolando Mandragora sent it back into his path, and the finish was gentle rather than emphatic. 4-0.

Gian Piero Gasperini's second season in Rome therefore starts top of the table, with a clean sheet and a forward who has just done in ninety minutes what most Serie A strikers manage in a season. The caveat is the obvious one: this was a Fiorentina side on a new coach's competitive debut, with its main striker sitting out a transfer saga on the bench. The Dybala–Malen combination will meet better defending than it did here. 🐺

Match facts

• 21' — Roma goal disallowed, Mario Hermoso offside
• 27' — Donyell Malen (Roma), assist Paulo Dybala
• 52' — Donyell Malen (Roma), assist Paulo Dybala
• 60' — Donyell Malen (Roma), assist Paulo Dybala
• 86' — Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), assist Matías Soulé
• Half-time: Roma 1-0 Fiorentina
• Bookings: Hermoso and Koné (Roma), Fagioli and Pellegrino (Fiorentina). No red cards
• Stadio Olimpico, Rome — Serie A matchday 1, Monday 24 August 2026. Referee: Matteo Marcenaro

One note on the numbers below: the shot totals come from Football Italia, because ESPN's own shots-on-target percentages (47% for Roma, 44% for Fiorentina) only add up against 17 and 9 attempts, not against the totals it printed. Everything else is ESPN's.

What's next

Fiorentina go again first, and at home: Frosinone at the Artemio Franchi on Saturday 29 August, which is about as gentle a reset as matchday 2 could have handed Grosso. Roma travel to Lecce on Monday 31 August, and will find out quickly whether the Dybala–Malen line works against a side that sits deeper than this one did.