EVAN FERGUSON WAS absent again as Roma were twice pegged back in a 2-2 draw away to champions Napoli in Serie A.
Gian Piero Gasperini revealed last week that Ferguson has been struggling with ankle problems, and he was not involved as Roma’s new striker, Donyell Malen, scored twice.
Advertisement
Malen, who arrived on loan from Aston Villa in January, smashed the ball in at the near post from a low cross by another winter loanee Bryan Zaragoza, who arrived from Bayern Munich.
Napoli responded in the 40th minute when left wing-back Leonardo Spinazzola hammered in a shot from outside the box against his former club.
Roma regained the lead in the 71st minute. Wesley Franca drove past Amir Rrahmani. The defender gave chase, stepped on Franca’s heels and then fell on top of him.
Before the penalty was taken, Napoli coach yanked the Kosovar off and replaced him with Brazilian midfielder Alisson Santos.
Franca, meanwhile, went off injured.
From the spot, Malen again fired the ball high to Vanja Milinkovic-Savic’s left for a fifth goal in five Serie A appearances. But Santos saved Napoli in the 82nd minute. He worked some space on the edge of the Roma penalty box and drilled a low shot inside the near post.
In Spain, Rayo Vallecano waltzed to a 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid on Sunday in La Liga, leaving Diego Simeone’s side 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Atletico dropped to fourth after their heavy defeat at Leganes’s Butarque stadium, where Rayo hosted the fixture due to pitch problems at their own Vallecas ground.
Fran Perez, Oscar Valentin and Nobel Mendy struck for Rayo, who thoroughly deserved their triumph against an Atletico side that had thrashed Spanish champions Barcelona 4-0 in the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
In France, Corentin Tolisso scored as Lyon beat Nice 2-0 on Sunday to strengthen their grip on a top-three place in Ligue 1 and moved to within seven points of leaders Lens.
Paulo Fonseca’s side are now five points clear of fourth-placed Marseille in the race for the third and final automatic Champions League qualifying spot.
A 13th straight win in all competitions also kept the seven-time French champions’ slim title hopes alive.
Lens reclaimed top spot on Saturday with a 5-0 thumping of Paris FC, after Paris Saint-Germain had opened the door by losing 3-1 at Rennes the previous day.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Ferguson absent as Malen scores twice for Roma in Napoli draw
European results
Serie A
La Liga
Ligue Un
******
EVAN FERGUSON WAS absent again as Roma were twice pegged back in a 2-2 draw away to champions Napoli in Serie A.
Gian Piero Gasperini revealed last week that Ferguson has been struggling with ankle problems, and he was not involved as Roma’s new striker, Donyell Malen, scored twice.
Malen, who arrived on loan from Aston Villa in January, smashed the ball in at the near post from a low cross by another winter loanee Bryan Zaragoza, who arrived from Bayern Munich.
Napoli responded in the 40th minute when left wing-back Leonardo Spinazzola hammered in a shot from outside the box against his former club.
Roma regained the lead in the 71st minute. Wesley Franca drove past Amir Rrahmani. The defender gave chase, stepped on Franca’s heels and then fell on top of him.
Before the penalty was taken, Napoli coach yanked the Kosovar off and replaced him with Brazilian midfielder Alisson Santos.
Franca, meanwhile, went off injured.
From the spot, Malen again fired the ball high to Vanja Milinkovic-Savic’s left for a fifth goal in five Serie A appearances. But Santos saved Napoli in the 82nd minute. He worked some space on the edge of the Roma penalty box and drilled a low shot inside the near post.
In Spain, Rayo Vallecano waltzed to a 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid on Sunday in La Liga, leaving Diego Simeone’s side 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Atletico dropped to fourth after their heavy defeat at Leganes’s Butarque stadium, where Rayo hosted the fixture due to pitch problems at their own Vallecas ground.
Fran Perez, Oscar Valentin and Nobel Mendy struck for Rayo, who thoroughly deserved their triumph against an Atletico side that had thrashed Spanish champions Barcelona 4-0 in the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
In France, Corentin Tolisso scored as Lyon beat Nice 2-0 on Sunday to strengthen their grip on a top-three place in Ligue 1 and moved to within seven points of leaders Lens.
Paulo Fonseca’s side are now five points clear of fourth-placed Marseille in the race for the third and final automatic Champions League qualifying spot.
A 13th straight win in all competitions also kept the seven-time French champions’ slim title hopes alive.
Lens reclaimed top spot on Saturday with a 5-0 thumping of Paris FC, after Paris Saint-Germain had opened the door by losing 3-1 at Rennes the previous day.
– © AFP 2026 with reporting by Gavin Cooney
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Atletico Madrid Eurozone Napoli Roma