Michael Bradley scores winning goal in AS Roma's record ninth straight victory

Michael Bradley's strike is his first for Roma in a little over a year. (Paolo Giovannini/AP) Michael Bradley is back. The American midfielder marked his

Michael Bradley's strike is his first for Roma in a little over a year. (Paolo Giovannini/AP)

Michael Bradley is back.

The American midfielder marked his return from injury by scoring the only goal in 10-man AS Roma's 1-0 win over Udinese on Sunday, extending his team's record winning run to nine games. Roma's winning streak now officially stands as a Serie A record to open a season - Juventus won nine straight to open the 2005/2006 campaign but the team's results were discarded in the Italian match fixing scandal of 2006.

Here's video of the goal (With some bonus footage of Bradley speaking Italian):

The strike from outside the box seems like signature Bradley, though truth be told he hasn't been on much of a scoring run lately. At least, not for his club. The goal is Bradley's first for Roma in just over a year, with his last tally coming on October 7th of last year against Atalanta.

Luckily for Roma, Bradley returned to the scoresheet in a time of need. The capital side were locked in an even match against Udinese, but were dealt a blow when Maicon was sent off in the 66th minute. Roma boss Rudi Garcia inserted Bradley into the game in the 78th minute, and it only took four minutes for the American to net the winning goal.

The goal will be a nice personal milestone for Bradley, as well. This was the midfielder's first appearance of any kind since he injured his ankle in pre game warmups before the U.S.'s 3-1 loss to Costa Rica in San Jose on September 6th. With that injury and Roma's hot start, there hasn't been an opportunity for Bradley to find playing time. Until today, that is.