Roma annoyed by Malen red after seeing El Azzouzi cautioned for a similar challenge
COMO, ITALY - OCTOBER 11: Donyell Malen of AS Roma reacts after he receives a red card from referee Michael Fabbri during the Serie A match between Como 1907 and AS Roma at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on October 11, 2026 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Donyell Malen is facing suspension after being shown a straight red card for a lunging challenge on Kaiki during Roma’s 0-0 draw away against Como, and the Giallorossi feel particularly annoyed given that Bologna’s Oussama El Azzouzi was only shown a yellow card for a very similar challenge.
Why Roma are frustrated by Malen red card decision
Como and Roma played out the first 0-0 in Serie A on Sunday afternoon: The league had gone five full rounds of fixtures without a goalless stalemate.
Head coach Gasperini said after full-time that he was pleased to see his side playing to try and win the game against Como, even with a numerical disadvantage, but expressed his frustrations at the decision to send Malen off.
He felt that play should have been halted before the incident due to a foul on Malen himself by Jacobo Ramon, who had held the Dutchman’s shirt, and criticised the VAR for making a judgement based on a freeze frame, as “football is not made up of still images, it is made up of actions.”
It is unlikely that Malen’s red card will be rescinded given that he did lunge in with both legs off the air, which will be deemed reckless and dangerous, but Gasperini insisted that the striker did not intend to put his opponent in any serious danger.
Still, the Giallorossi will have been annoyed to see that Bologna’s El Azzouzri was only punished with a yellow card for a similar challenge on Lecce’s Konan Ndri on Sunday afternoon.
The differences were that Malen’s leg was at firm and at full stretch, whil El Azzouzi did not lunge in with his leg fully tensed. As pointed out by the Corriere dello Sport, Roma feel that Malen made a genuine attempt to play the ball and that he barely made contact with his opponent, whilst El Azzouzi connected significantly higher up his opponent’s leg, almost at knee height.
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