Donyell Malen wasted no time making an impact at Roma, scoring on his Serie A debut as the Giallorossi secured a 2-0 victory against Torino on Sunday.
Paulo Dybala also found the net, ending a three-month league goal drought, as Roma continued their winning run with a third consecutive league triumph.
The result also served as sweet revenge for Roma, who had lost 3-2 to Torino in their Coppa Italia clash just five days earlier.
Malen initially thought he had opened the scoring, poking the ball home from close range, only for VAR to rule the effort offside.
Undeterred, the Netherlands international made no mistake in the 26th minute, calmly finishing past Alberto Paleari after a slick pass from Dybala.
Torino’s Valentin Lazaro forced a save from Mile Svilar, but Roma sealed the win 18 minutes from time when Dybala converted from close range, doubling the visitors’ advantage.
Malen later struck the side-netting, while Che Adams came close at the other end, but Roma held firm to claim all three points.
Dybala’s contribution, one goal and one assist—marked a milestone: he became the first foreign player in the last 20 Serie A seasons to be directly involved in 200 goals (131 goals, 69 assists).
He is now the fifth player overall to reach this landmark, following Ciro Immobile, Fabio Quagliarella, Antonio Di Natale, and Domenico Berardi.
Since joining Roma in the 2022–23 season, only Rafael Leao and Federico Dimarco have provided more Serie A assists than Dybala’s 20.
Malen’s strike made him the first Roma forward to score on a Serie A debut since Stephan El Shaarawy in January 2016. He also became the fifth Dutchman to score for Roma in the Italian top flight, joining the likes of Kevin Strootman, Justin Kluivert, Rick Karsdorp, and Georginio Wijnaldum.
