AS Roma Beat Lecce, Gasperini Refuses to Speak to Media

AS Roma forward Evan Ferguson celebrates a goal against Lecce. Roma won 2-0 in the Italian Serie A. (X/@OfficialASRoma)

JAKARTA - AS Roma had no trouble defeating bottom team Lecce 2-0 in an Italian Serie A match at the Via del Mare Stadium, Wednesday, January 7, 2026 early morning WIB. After the match, Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini did not want to meet and talk to the media.

Gasperini unexpectedly refused to hold a press conference after the match. He also did not send an assistant coach to give information to the media.

Gasperini's refusal attitude immediately sparked rumors of tension between the former Atalanta coach and club officials. Previously, Gasperini met with Roma officials regarding the recruitment plan of the forward.

He hopes the club will soon complete negotiations to get Giacomo Raspadori who has left Italy and is playing in the Spanish LaLiga by strengthening Atletico Madrid. In addition, Gasperini proposed striker Joshua Zirkzee who is ready to be released by Manchester United.

Only their meeting did not show any significant progress, alias there was no decision to execute the purchase of the forward player.

Club director Frederic Massara said Roma did not need a striker so much that it would not make a player purchase in the January transfer market.

According to Massara, the club is not in an emergency situation that makes them buy a new striker. The club's attitude frustrated Gasperini and eventually he even refused to attend a press conference after bringing Roma to victory over Lecce.

This victory is very meaningful after Roma previously lost 1-0 in a controversial way when visiting Atalanta's home. Moreover, Roma is maintaining the competition for a place in the Champions League.

Currently, Roma who are ranked fifth have 36 points. The same as Juventus who beat Sassuolo 3-0. Only, Juve has a goal difference so they stay in fourth place or the Champions League zone.

Meanwhile, Lecce, who previously made a surprise by holding Juve 1-1, are still struggling at the bottom. They are ranked 16th with 17 points. Lecce is only five points ahead of Hellas Verona, which is in 18th place or the relegation zone.

Roma's success in winning three points at home against the opponent is very important because Gasperini lost nine players. Some of them, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Leon Bailey, Tommaso Baldanzi and Pierluigi Gollini suffered injuries and Devyne Rensch was sick with flu so he had to be absent.

Meanwhile, the duo of defenders Mario Hermoso and Gianluca Mancini could not appear due to card accumulation. Repotnya lagi, Evan Ndicka dan Neil El Aynaoui masih memperkuat timnas di Piala Afrika.

However, Roma was still able to show the best performance. They were immediately ahead when forward Evan Ferguson broke the deadlock in the 14th minute. He successfully completed an assist from Paulo Dybala.

1-0 advantage makes Giallorossi more aggressive in pressing the home defense. Even midfielder Niccolo Pisilli who received a pass from Wesley Franca managed to break the Lecce goal. However, the goal was annulled because Pisilli was in an offside position. The score remained until halftime.

In the second half, Roma continued to play offensively. They created a number of opportunities through Dybala and Wesley. However, they failed to take advantage of that opportunity to add goals. Likewise, Bryan Cristante who welcomed Dybala's pass could not convert it into a goal.

Roma's hopes of increasing the lead were finally realized when striker Artem Dovbyk, who replaced Ferguson, managed to overcome the deadlock.

The goal started from Dybala's corner kick which was received by Pisilli and he managed to control the ball before launching a volley.

But the ball instead went to his own teammate, Dovbyk, who finished it off with a shot from close range.

The score changed 2-0. After the goal, Roma actually continued to dominate. However, their attacks always failed so that the two-goal advantage lasted until the end of the match.