AS Roma made history in Serie A on Sunday, becoming the first team to win all nine of its opening matches in the Italian first division. Juventus actually achieved the same feat in 2005-06, but therecord, along with the Serie A title, were later taken away due to the Turin club’s part in a widespread match-fixing scandal that season.
Roma was forced to work extremely hardagainst Udinese for its ninth straight victory, especially after defender Maicon was sent off for a second yellow card for the last 25 minutes of the game. In the end, a superblycontrolled first-time shot from substitute Michael Bradley secured the points for the Giallorossi.
“At the end it was three deserved points, we really gave everything,”the U.S. international said after the game. “This is a team which has great desire and determination. Last year didn’t go how we wanted it to, now it’s going a bit better. We’re working every day toimprove and we’re not thinking about the statistics.”