As Armand Laurienté ran riot and Marash Kumbulla saw red card, Roma’s night took a bad turn and worsened in a 4-3 loss to Sassuolo, yet they kept fighting.
When breaking the offside trap in the first few minutes, Gini Wijnaldum fired directly at Andrea Consigli while Tammy Abraham’s chest and volley sailed wide to show Roma’s grit.
But Sassuolo took the lead on their first actual attack. In order to start a counterattack, Edoardo Bove mishandled a pass from Stephan El Shaarawy in the middle of the field. Smalling then blocked Davide Frattesi’s shot, and Rui Patricio got a glove on Andrea Pinamonti’s follow-up but was powerless to stop an Armand Laurienté tap-in.
Rui Patrici had to make a save at the near post after Berardi nutmegged Leonardo Spinazzola, but he was able to pull the ball back in time for Laurienté to score from ten yards out.
Roma did regain control of the situation when Spinazzola floated a cross to the back post for Nicola Zalewski, whose ground-based volley surprised Consigli. Although he may not have fully intended it and he used his weaker foot, it was his first senior goal for the team.
In a frantic opening to this match, Wijnaldum headed Zalewski’s cross wide. Laurienté also fired over from inside the box, and Rui Patricio dived to tip a Pinamonti effort over the bar.
However, during the first half’s stoppages, the game changed again. In the six-yard box, Berardi swooped on a loose ball to force a Rui Patricio save, but Marash Kumbulla made a stupid reaction foul by kicking out at the Sassuolo captain. Due to the fact that the ball was still technically in play despite being in Rui Patricio’s arms when it was discovered by VAR, it led to both a red card and a penalty that Berardi successfully converted.
After the restart, Paulo Dybala and Rick Karsdorp entered the game. Roger Ibanez nodded La Joya’s corner just over, and Berardi’s rocket barely cleared the bar.
Dybala made an impact right away, his left boot swinging a flawless finish from the edge of the box into the far top corner for 2-3.
Nemanja Matic’s sliding tackle on Frattesi infuriated the home team because he was certain he had the ball, but Laurienté mishandled the resulting free kick. Match analyst Giovanni Marra was dismissed from the Roma bench after yet another irate protest.
On a Dybala corner, Wijnaldum attempted a back-heel flick, but Consigli reacted quickly to stop Zalewski’s fierce daisy-cutter from outside the box.
Instead, Laurienté made a pass for Pinamonti to deftly dink it over the advancing Rui Patricio as Sassuolo added a fourth.
Dybala, who came from midfield and outran Pedro Obiang, forced Consigli into a clumsy save while Nedim Bajrami’s free kick was flapped away as Roma showed no signs of giving up.
Wijnaldum’s first goal for Roma came as a result of Smalling’s through ball, which enabled him to escape the offside trap deep into stoppage time making it 3-4.
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