Roma Women beat Juventus for the third time this season to kickstart what could theoretically be the week in which they win their second successive Scudetto.
For their third match of the Scudetto Pool, Roma faced their closest challengers, who were still 10 points behind them ahead of kick-off.
Alayah Pilgrim put Roma in front within five minutes, before Juventus equalised courtesy of Cristiana Girelli shortly into the second half.
A draw itself would not have been the end of the world for Roma, but thankfully, determined substitute Evelyne Viens restored the advantage five minutes before added time at the end of the game. The Giallorosse would be victorious.
It means they now just need one more win – which they will be hoping will come against Fiorentina on Saturday – to mathematically confirm their status as Serie A Femminile champions for the second time.
Funnily enough, last season Roma won the title by beating Fiorentina, having got one hand on the trophy by beating Juventus in the fixture immediately before. Lightning could be about to strike twice.
In the meantime, here are some broader facts after the big win over Juventus.
Pilgrim celebrates first Serie A start
After seven substitute appearances in the league since her winter arrival, Pilgrim was given the nod from the first minute by Alessandro Spugna for the clash at Stadio Tre Fontane.
Interchanging flanks with fellow winger Emilie Haavi, the Swiss forward regularly dribbled towards opponents. The end product was mixed, but her first contribution was the most decisive and important.
Indeed, it was Pilgrim who scored her first Serie A goal on the occasion of her first league start to put Roma in front within five minutes.
It was not their quickest ever goal against Juventus, since Annamaria Serturini once scored inside two minutes against the Bianconere in December 2022, but it was definitely a statement of intent.
After originally opening her Roma account in a Coppa Italia game against Milan in March, the 20-year-old is now up and running in the league.
The FIGC later awarded Pilgrim the player of the match award for her endeavours.
Quarter-century of Giugliano goal contributions
The player who got the assist for Pilgrim’s goal was Manuela Giugliano, who has now contributed to 25 goals this season.
She became the first Roma player to reach double figures of assists for the season by setting up Pilgrim. Added to her 15 goals, the 10 assists mean she has now contributed to a quarter of a century of goals this term.
As a collective, Roma have scored 94 this season, so Giugliano has been a pivotal final influence in more than a quarter of them so far.
Viens vanquishes Juventus again
Embed from Getty ImagesThe match winner was ultimately Viens, who came on as a sub for Valentina Giacinti and made a major impact, almost winning Roma a penalty shortly before being able to score their second goal of the game.
It was Viens’ 12th goal since joining Roma in the summer. Impressively, a quarter of those have been against Juventus.
In all three league games between the two strongest sides in the league this season, Viens has scored. She netted their third in a 3-1 win in November, second in a win by the same score in February, and the winner this April.
Giugliano also scored in the November and February games, but not in the April fixture, which means Viens has become the first ever Roma Women player to score in three different matches against Juventus in a single season.
Of course, the format of Serie A Femminile hasn’t always allowed for that many matchups, but the only other players to have previously scored in two games in a season against Juventus – considering cup meetings too – were Andressa Alves and Sophie Roman Haug last season, and Annamaria Serturini and Lindsey Thomas the season before.
The only time she has faced Juventus without scoring this season was in the Supercoppa Italiana in January, in which she ironically scored an own goal!
Her winner this time around puts her level on three goals with Serturini and Andressa as Roma’s all-time top scorer against Juventus.
Roma match longest winning run
Earlier this season, Roma went on a 10-match winning run for the first time in their history. Now, they have done it again.
The current spell began, coincidentally, against Juventus too in early February. Since then, Roma have beaten Napoli twice, Sassuolo twice, Fiorentina once, Milan twice, Inter once and now Juventus again.
Stretching over more than two months, this particular winning streak has included 25 goals for, which is considerably fewer than the streak at the start of the season, but it has been even more crucial in terms of Roma’s advantage at the top of the table.
Win their next game, and they won’t just be celebrating their longest outright winning run. They’ll be celebrating the league title.
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