AS Roma visited Sassuolo on Sunday evening with an expensive loss of points. Tammy Abraham gave coach José Mourinho’s team the lead before half-time, but mistakes by goalkeeper Patrício and Rick Karsdorp meant things went wrong in the second half. Bryan Cristante gave the Romans another point in injury time: 2-2.
Roma escaped unscathed early in the game after Hamed Junior Traorè passed goalkeeper Patrício in the short corner. Referee Marco Guida, however, decided to disallow the opening goal due to a handball from the wing attacker, so that the home team’s joy was short-lived. Sassuolo showed himself the most sharp in the opening phase and via a shot by Domenico Berardi it quickly issued another warning.
I Giallorossia had a hard time getting into their game, but after a sparse breakout they thought they would break the spell when Abraham shot the ball against the ropes. Again, referee Guida was a bummer, as a goal was canceled for the second time this game on the advice of his assistant. The VAR ultimately supported the decision to disallow the goal for offside. Where both teams seemed to be satisfied with a 0-0 half-time score, Roma still went to the dressing rooms with a lead. Vlad Chiriches received the ball from close range against his hand by Matías Viña, after which Guida pointed to the penalty spot. From eleven meters, goalkeeper Andrea Consigli was sent into the wrong corner by Abraham: 0-1.
Sassuolo was determined to tie the score in the second act. The home team could thank Patrício for quickly succeeding that mission, because the Portuguese closing post let a simple-looking shot from Traorè slip through his hands. Roma was also unable to convince in the second half and was pushed deeper into trouble thanks to outstanding player Traorè. Thanks to a covering error by Karsdorp, the Ivorian was allowed to take free in the sixteen-meter area. The attacker then had the corner to pick: 2-1.
Sassuolo seemed well on his way to three points, but fifteen minutes before the end, Gian Marco Ferrari disadvantaged his team by running into his second yellow card of the game after a foul on Abraham. With one man less, the team of coach Alessio Dionisi held out for a long time. It still went wrong in injury time, after substitute Cristante headed in a corner: 2-2.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | † | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AC Milan | 25 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 55 |
| 2 | Internazionale | 24 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 35 | 54 |
| 3 | Napoli | 25 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 29 | 53 |
| 4 | Juventus | 24 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 45 |
| 5 | Atalanta | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 43 |
| 6 | Lazio | 25 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 42 |
| 7 | AS Roma | 25 | 12 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 40 |
| 8 | Hellas Verona | 25 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 36 |
| 9 | Fiorentina | 23 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 36 |
| 10 | Torino | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 32 |
| 11 | empoli | 25 | 8 | 7 | 10 | -10 | 31 |
| 12 | Sassuolo | 25 | 7 | 9 | 9 | -3 | 30 |
| 13 | Bologna | 24 | 8 | 4 | 12 | -11 | 28 |
| 14 | Udinese | 24 | 6 | 9 | 9 | -7 | 27 |
| 15 | special | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | -18 | 26 |
| 16 | sampdoria | 25 | 6 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 23 |
| 17 | Cagliari | 25 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -21 | 21 |
| 18 | Venice | 24 | 5 | 6 | 13 | -21 | 21 |
| 19 | Genoa | 25 | 1 | 12 | 12 | -25 | 15 |
| 20 | Salernitana | 24 | 3 | 4 | 17 | -39 | 12 |