ROME: Dutch international Donyell Malen was the hero again as AS Roma ran Lecce ragged in Serie A on Monday with a mesmerising 4-0 away win, in which the in-form forward scored twice.

Malen’s brace, bolstered by the hat-trick he scored in Roma’s 4-0 thumping of Fiorentina last week, took his tally to 19 goals from 20 league matches since joining from Aston Villa in January.

Veteran coach Gian Piero Gasperini described Roma’s performance as top calibre last week and this latest performance at a packed Lecce stadium was of the same ilk.

Gasperini’s men over-ran Lecce with waves of lightning breaks as Malen netted a double inside the opening 24 minutes.

Matias Soule is rumoured to be leaving Roma but scored the third on 25 minutes, while new arrival the 19-year-old Portuguese midfielder Rodrigo Mora completed the rout just after the hour.

Gasperini then took off Malen with Roma facing a heavy schedule and the club under financial constraints to keep the squad on a modest wage bill.

The 68-year-old coach described Malen as “a gamble that paid off”.

“He has this ability to control, turn and accelerate all within moments, which are extraordinary characteristics for a centre-forward. Both of us, me and him, wanted him to play in this role,” Gasperini said after the game.

In Monday’s late game, Atalanta dealt Bologna a body blow when a speculative long-range effort from Lazar Samardzic found the bottom corner to make it 1-0 six minutes into time added on.

Atalanta join Roma, Champions Inter Milan, Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan, Juventus and Lazio on six points after two matches.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2026