Sassuolo secured their third consecutive victory in Serie A as three first-half goals drove them to a thrilling 4-3 triumph over 10-man AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma looked full of confidence during the early stages, with Georginio Wijnaldum and Tammy Abraham both going close inside the opening 10 minutes.
Sassuolo settled well into the match and duly found the opener, as Armand Laurienté tapped home after Rui Patrício could only repel a curled effort from Andrea Pinamonti. The visitors doubled their advantage just five minutes later when Domenico Berardi’s clever cut-hack was clinically dispatched by Armand Lauriente for his second of the night.
Faced with a two-goal deficit, Roma responded impressively and soon pulled a goal back, as Nicola Zalewski netted his first senior goal, placing an effort over Andrea Consigli and into the far corner. With three minutes left to play in the half, madness from Marash Kumbulla saw the Albanian international dismissed for a petulant kick on Berardi inside the area.
The Sassuolo winger coolly slotted home the resulting spot-kick to restore the visitors’ two-goal lead going into the interval.
Roma appeared after the restart desperate to claw their way back into the match, and halved the deficit within five minutes, as substitute Paulo Dybala curled a sublime long-range strike into the top corner.
With time ticking into the final 20 minutes, the 10 men of Roma continued to probe for a leveller, but any hopes of a comeback were dealt a major blow in the 75th minute when Pinamonti received a clever pass from Lauriente and lobbed a delicate finish over Patrício.
This all but ended the hosts’ resilience, as Sassuolo – despite a last-gasp consolation from Wijnaldum as he grabbed Roma’s third goal but could not get the all-needed equalizer.
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