Fiorentina's first outing of the season, at the Stadio Olimpico away to Roma, ended in a heavy defeat. Donyell Malen claimed a hat-trick for the hosts before Niccolo Pisilli completed the rout towards the end of the game.

Roma started the game brightly, and in the 19th minute, Rodrigo Mora sparked into life on the left flank, cutting inside and unleashing a shot towards the top corner, but David De Gea pulled off a magnificent save. However, the deadlock was broken in the 27th minute when Donyell Malen received a pass from Paulo Dybala and slotted the ball past the Viola goalkeeper from inside the six-yard box. Earlier in the move, Mario Hermoso had knocked Franco Mastantuono to the ground, but the referee allowed play to continue. The first half ended with the Giallorossi leading the Viola 1-0.

Fiorentina started the second half with a more attacking mindset, but in the 52nd minute the Dybala-Malen partnership struck again. This time around, the Dutchman beat De Gea with a left-footed shot just under the crossbar to make it 2-0. In the 60th minute, as the Viola attempted to cut the deficit, the same duo combined to make it 3-0, completing a hat-trick for the impressive Dutchman. A quick Viola counter-attack in the 71st minute saw Alex Jimenez set up Moise Kean, but the Italian striker’s shot is well saved by Mile Svilar. Niccolò Pisilli made it 4-0 with four minutes of time left to play.

Roma 4-0 Fiorentina (HT 1-0)

Scorers: (Malen 27, Malen 52, Malen 60, Pisilli 86)

BOOKED: Fagioli (F), Hermoso (R), Kone (R), Pellegrino (F)

ROMA: Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Hermoso (Koulierakis 68); Lulli, Kone (Pisilli 79), Cristante, Wesley; Dybala (El Aynaouai 79), Mora (Soule 53); Malen (Castro 68).

Unused substitutes: De Marzi, Gollini, Molina, Ziolkowski, Vaz, Ghilardi.

Coach: Gasperini

FIORENTINA: De Gea, Dodo, Dragusin, Ranieri, Joao Mario (Valdepenas 81); Ndour, Fagioli (Oulai 62), Brescianini (Jimenez 62), Mastantuono (Kean 62), Atta (Mandragora 74); Pellegrino.

Unused substitutes: Lezzerini, Christensen, Pongracic, Gudmundsson, Viery, Croci, Kospo, Mazzeo, Fabbian. 

Coach: Grosso