MILAN (AP) — Donyell Malen needed 26 minutes to mark his arrival at Roma with a goal.
Malen scored the opening goal in Roma’s 2-0 win at Torino that saw the capital side cement fourth place in Serie A on Sunday.
It was also a great way for Malen to celebrate his 27th birthday on Monday.
Malen joined Roma on loan from Aston Villa on Friday, with the option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season.
The Netherlands forward was thrown straight into the starting lineup and thought he had scored in the 23rd minute but it was ruled out as he had been offside when he ran onto Paulo Dybala’s pass.
The two combined again three minutes later with Malen controlling Dybala’s slide-rule pass before slotting past Torino goalkeeper Alberto Paleari.
Dybala got onto the scoresheet himself in the 72nd minute. His effort from the edge of the area was parried by Paleari but came back to Dybala, who volleyed into the roof of the net.
The result also avenged Roma’s midweek defeat at Torino in the Italian Cup.
Drought ended
New AC Milan signing Niclas Füllkrug scored his first goal in nearly a year to give his team what could prove to be a crucial 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Lecce.
Milan cut the gap to Serie A leader Inter Milan back to three points. Inter, which had also struggled against Lecce midweek, won 1-0 at Udinese on Saturday.
Füllkrug joined Milan on loan from West Ham on the opening day of the winter transfer window in Italy.
The 32-year-old Germany forward hadn’t scored since April 5, against Bournemouth in the Premier League.
He ended that drought in the 76th minute, less than three minutes after being substituted on for Christian Pulisic. Alexis Saelemaekers ran onto a long pass from Matteo Gabbia down the right and then put in a cross for Füllkrug to head into the bottom far corner.
Pulisic had had two of Milan’s best chances before coming off but the United States international was denied by two great saves from Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone, who also pulled off a number of other fine stops.
Lecce slipped into the relegation zone, below Fiorentina on goal difference.
Emotional tribute
Fiorentina paid tribute to owner Rocco Commisso with special shirts and a heartwarming goal celebration in an emotional 2-1 win at Bologna.
It was announced early Saturday that Commisso, who purchased Fiorentina in 2019, had died. But his family wanted the team to play as scheduled in his honor.
Fiorentina warmed up wearing shirts with Commisso’s photo as well as the words “1 Rocco” on the back, and “Grazie Rocco” on the front.
There was a minute’s silence before kickoff — as in all the Serie A matches this weekend — and the players were also wearing black armbands, while the away fans displayed banners in tribute to Commisso.
Rolando Mandragora celebrated scoring the opening goal in the 19th minute by running to the touchline and picking up a special Fiorentina jersey with “Rocco” on it. He was later seen wearing that shirt in the post-match celebrations.
Roberto Piccoli doubled Fiorentina’s goal on the stroke of halftime. It was initially ruled out for offside but awarded on video review.
Bologna coach Vincenzo Italiano, who coached Fiorentina to three finals before leaving in 2024, was visibly irate with his team — hurling his hat to the ground — and made four changes at halftime.
One of those substitutes, Giovanni Fabbian, headed in a late consolation.
Bologna slid down the table to eighth after one win in 10 Serie A matches.
Earlier Sunday, Parma drew 0-0 with Genoa in a relegation battle.
Genoa is three points above the drop zone and three below Parma.
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