Dream debut for Donyell Malen with Roma. Fiorentina pays tribute to Rocco Commisso

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.

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.

Relegation-threatened Fiorentina moved level on points with Lecce, which occupies the last place of safety and was playing at second-placed AC Milan later.

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.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer