Serie A | Sassuolo 2-1 Cagliari: Sardinians fumble precious lead
Sassuolo turned it around after the Sebastiano Esposito penalty, as Ulisses Garcia and Andrea Pinamonti plunge Cagliari closer to the relegation zone.
Both teams went into the break for international duty in poor form, as the Neroverdi remain comfortably mid-table, but scraped one point from three rounds after their squad was decimated by a whooping cough outbreak in the 1-1 draw at Juventus.
Daniel Boloca, Fali Cande and Edoardo Pieragnolo were long-term absentees, though Kristian Thorstvedt returned. Cagliari risked getting dragged back into the danger zone after two points in seven rounds, with Alberto Dossena suspended, Leonardo Pavoletti, Mattia Felici and Riyad Idrissi injured.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Thorstvedt’s chest and volley flashed just wide of the far top corner, while Sebastiano Esposito’s attempt was charged down from 12 yards.
Esposito tried to break through the middle, but Jay Idzes flicked the ball away from his knee with a hand while stumbling, and VAR spotted the handling offence to award the penalty. Esposito converted hard and low into the near bottom corner, despite Arijanet Muric getting his fingertips to it.
Alessandro Deiola also tested Muric, but Armand Laurienté saw his free kick fingertipped over the bar by Elia Caprile and Domenico Berardi’s shot from a corner kick routine was blocked off.
Sassuolo equalised after the restart, as Yerry Mina cleared a corner to the edge of the D, where Ulisses Garcia was ready to control with his chest and sweep on the half-volley into the bottom corner. It was the first Serie A goal for the January signing from Olympique Marseille.
Juan Rodriguez prevented Domenico Berardi going clear after a give and go with Thorstvedt, but Deiola couldn’t keep his header down on a Marco Palestra cross.
Luca Lipani scored within minutes of coming off the bench, but was clearly offside on the Thorstvedt assist.
It was just a warning, as Sassuolo did turn the game around when Darryl Bakola flicked on a throw-in for Andrea Pinamonti, who gathered with his back to goal, turned and threaded the finish through a tiny gap into the near bottom corner from 12 yards.
Cagliari had a huge chance to equalise in stoppages when Muric fumbled a simple cross, but Adam Obert couldn’t keep the finish on target from a tricky angle when faced with the open goal.
Sassuolo 2-1 Cagliari
Esposito pen 30 (C), Garcia 50 (S), Pinamonti 78 (S)
Player statistic
| 30' |  |
Sebastiano Esposito |
| Ulisses Garcia | 50' | |||
| Andrea Pinamonti (Assist: Darryl Bakola) |
 |
78' | ||
| Andrea Pinamonti |  |
79' |
