Roma Women were victorious by a 3-0 scoreline in their first Champions League group match at Stadio Tre Fontane on Thursday.
After drawing away at Bayern Munich the week before, Roma claimed a comfortable win on home soil – in their recently upgraded surroundings at Stadio Tre Fontane – against Ajax thanks to a brace from Valentina Giacinti and a volley from Manuela Giugliano.
Here are a few facts in the wake of the game.
Giacinti sets calendar year record
Thanks to her instinctive brace, Giacinti has now scored 15 goals in 2023 (nine in the second half of last season, and six in the first half of this season).
It means she has now scored more goals in a calendar year for Roma than any other player, overtaking a record set earlier this year by Andressa Alves (13).
Earliest UWCL goal of season so far
Roma made a quick impression against Ajax, with Giacinti’s opener – a loop over the keeper after a corner – coming in the fifth minute.
It is the earliest so far that Roma have scored in a Champions League match this season – so much so that by the time Giacinti made it 2-0, even that was earlier than the previous earliest European goal of the current campaign for the Giallorosse.
Last season, the only time Roma scored earlier in a Champions League match – again courtesy of Giacinti – was in the third minute of a 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg in November 2022.
Haavi gets fifth assist of season
With her assist for Giugliano’s volley, Emilie Haavi matched the goalscorer she supplied as Roma’s leading assist maker in the 2023-24 season.
It was the fifth goal Haavi has set up so far, with three of those being in the Champions League and two in Serie A Femminile.
In fact, so far this season, Haavi is the only member of Alessandro Spugna’s squad to record multiple assists in the UWCL.
Four in a row for Giugliano
Giugliano’s volley marked the fourth consecutive game in which she has scored, representing a continuation of her best ever scoring streak for Roma.
Given more freedom since the arrival of defensive midfielder Saki Kumagai over the summer, Giugliano is becoming a threat in the opposition half – and completed Roma’s win with excellent technique.
Her current vein of form is only the fifth of its kind, with Andressa (twice), Annamaria Serturini and Haavi the only other players to have ever scored in four games running for Roma. (Only Andressa has ever scored in five consecutive games).
Every shot on target was a goal
Despite being in control for most of the match, Roma actually only had the three shots on target, but made the most of them.
There were 10 other shots by Roma throughout the game, but the only three that were on target all went past the opposition goalkeeper.
Roma top after two group games
In the other game of the group, Bayern beat Paris Saint-Germain to move onto four points, like Roma have.
However, Roma’s win against Ajax was by a bigger margin, which puts them top of the group after two games on goal difference.
It is the first time Roma have been top of a Champions League group after they were always in second place and finished as runners up to Wolfsburg to progress to the quarter-finals last season.
Of course, the group stage is not even halfway to completion yet, but Roma have their fate in their hands as things stand.
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