AS Roma squandered a commanding three-goal advantage to draw 3-3 with Cannes in a pre-season friendly, after Brazilian defender Wesley received two yellow cards before half-time.
Paulo Dybala had put the Serie A side in complete control with a brace and an assist during the first external test of Gian Piero Gasperini’s tenure. The Argentine opened the scoring on 35 minutes with a magnificent free kick into the top corner, then set up Donyell Malen nine minutes later to make it 2-0 at the break.
The contest turned when Wesley managed the extraordinary feat of collecting two bookings in a friendly fixture before the interval, reducing Roma to ten men. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Dybala extended the lead shortly after the restart, running onto a through ball from Devyne Rensch to make it 3-0 on 56 minutes.
Cannes, who are also owned by the Friedkin family that controls Roma, launched a remarkable comeback against the depleted defence. Julien Lopez hammered a ferocious volley into the roof of the net on 68 minutes to give the French side hope, before catching the Italian back line napping again in the 88th minute to level the scores.
The turnaround was completed in the dying moments when substitute Artem Dovbyk conceded a penalty, which Brice Oggad converted in the 95th minute to secure an unlikely 3-3 draw.
Gasperini made several changes at the interval, with Gollini replacing Svilar in goal, whilst Mancini and Hermoso made way for Ziolkowski and Ghilardi. Dybala remained on the pitch until the 65th minute, when he was withdrawn for Gianmattei after contributing three goal involvements. Further substitutions saw Ndicka, Rensch, Cristante and Bah depart midway through the second half.
The manager was without several key figures for the trip to France. Midfielder Niccolò Pisilli missed out through injury, whilst Manu Koné and Neil El Aynaoui remain on vacation following their 2026 World Cup commitments.
The result leaves Gasperini with defensive concerns to address before Roma continue their pre-season schedule. They travel to Wales on 1 August for their next friendly against Cardiff City.