Roma Women’s positive start to their defence of the Serie A Femminile title continued on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Como.
Summer signings Saki Kumagai, Martina Tomaselli and Evelyne Viens all scored their first goals for the club, while last season’s top scorer Valentina Giacinti also got in on the act.
After a 4-2 win over AC Milan the week before, Roma have retained their 100% record at the start of the new campaign, which they have embarked upon as champions.
Here, in what will hopefully become a regular post-match feature on Giallorossi Yorkshire, are five facts to emerge from the game.
Most unique scorers at the start of a season
Not only have Roma scored more goals in their first two games of a season than ever before (beating the record of seven from 2021-22), they have done so with each strike coming from a different player.
Against Milan, the scorers were Elena Linari, Emilie Haavi, Giada Greggi and Benedetta Glionna, all of whom had been key players in the title win the season before.
As stated, the victory over Como saw three new players open their accounts for the club, as well as Giacinti open the floodgates of what will hopefully be another strong personal tally this season.
Never before had Roma scored so many goals at the start of a season until a player has got her second of the campaign (unless counting the three own goals scored by Empoli players in the 2021-22 opener). Previously, the record was seven in 2018-19 and 2021-22.
After five players hit double figures for Roma last season, it seems they still know how to spread the goals around.
Tomaselli becomes quickest scorer
Martina Tomaselli’s first goal for Roma came within a minute of her making her first appearance for the club as a substitute since her summer arrival from Sassuolo.
It makes her the quickest Roma player to get off the mark for the club, overtaking the previous record of four minutes, which was set by academy graduate Alessandra Massa in a Coppa Italia game in January 2021.
She has also become the sixth player to score on debut for the Giallorosse after Massa, Mina Bergersen, Paloma Lazaro, Annamaria Serturini and Martina Piemonte.
Giacinti joins double figures club
The most recognisable scorer for Roma was Valentina Giacinti, who got her first goal of the new season and her 10th of 2023 at club level.
She is thus the second player to hit double figures for Roma in 2023 after Andressa Alves, who left the club over the summer.
Giacinti also scored double figures of goals for Roma in 2022, despite only arriving halfway through the calendar year at the dawn of the new season.
Bartoli knocked out of scoring list
By scoring her 14th Serie A goal for Roma, Giacinti has moved into outright fifth place on the club’s all-time list of league scorers.
In the process, she has knocked captain Elisa Bartoli – who she was previously level with – out of the top five. Realistically, the defender is unlikely to ever get back into that top five.
In a way, it could be the end of an era, with Bartoli previously being important in more attacking phases of the game while Roma were finding the right formula up front. Now that area is addressed, the full-back can keep contributing in more natural territory, while the likes of Giacinti go on to flourish further forward.
But captain matches record for league starts
One statistic where Bartoli remains high in the club’s all-time records is for appearances. Although she is not Roma’s most-used player ever – that is Serturini – she is the player with the most starts in all competitions.
And focusing on the league specifically, Bartoli has now caught Serturini on 87 Serie A starts for the club. Since she remains a more regular player from the first minutes of matches, with Serturini becoming more of a rotation player, she could claim the record for herself alone soon, still leading by example after all these years.
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