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Coach Spalletti hails Roma's historic winning run

Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:56 PM GMT

By James Eve

ROME, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Coach Luciano Spalletti was in jubilant mood after his AS Roma team beat city rivals Lazio 2-0 on Sunday to set a Serie A record of 11 successive wins.

"We've made history," he told reporters. "In terms of a one-off achievement I'd say it's the biggest thing I've done in my career so far.

"It was a great way to complete this sequence. Lazio was a very tough opponent," added Spalletti, who arrived at Roma in June having guided Udinese to fourth place last season.

Rodrigo Taddei and Alberto Aquilani were on target on Sunday as Roma took their run of victories past the previous best of 10 in a row held jointly by Juventus (1931-32), AC Milan (1950-51) and Bologna (1963-64).

"They (Lazio) made us suffer a lot before we scored the first goal, especially on the flanks," said Spalletti. "They maybe deserved more than they got tonight."


NO TOTTI

Roma broke the record without captain Francesco Totti, who watched the game from the sidelines after fracturing his ankle in last weekend's 1-0 win over Empoli.

"We've got a group of players that works. Even when they are missing their captain, these lads have shown they can fill his shoes," said Spalletti.

Roma's run has turned a team of Serie A also-rans into contenders for a Champions League place.

Before they started the sequence, the 2001 Italian champions were 10th in the division, 12 points behind Fiorentina, who occupied fourth place and the final Champions League berth.

Now Roma are fourth on 54 points, one ahead of Fiorentina.

"It's a shame we dropped so many points at the start of the season. At least we're making them up now," said Spalletti.

With 11 matches remaining, leaders Juventus (70 points) look too far ahead to catch but Roma can still put pressure on AC Milan (60) and Inter Milan (58), who they host in the next round of matches.