Sassuolo: the fight back has begun

The middle part of Sassuolo’s fourth season in the Italian Serie A has been a better-sweet period. Despite a long list of injuries, the club sponsored by Mapei has won some important matches to keep the team well away from the relegation battle. Luckily for Sassuolo, several injured players are now ready to get back into action, most notably Domenico Berardi. “It is great that he is fit again - so Giovanni Carnevali, Sassuolo’s managing director and CEO, commented - but Domenico is one of those players who take several weeks to get back into top shape. It will be the end of February before Berardi is back at his best”.

MATCH REPORTS

Sassuolo lost 4-3 to Cagliari at Sant’Elia Stadium just before Christmas. This was a heavy defeat for the team from Emilia in a match that certainly was not for the faint-hearted. When Acerbi scored from a penalty in the 13th minute of the second half Sassuolo was winning 3-1, but eventually ended up losing the match. “We made all kinds of mistakes - so Mr Carnevali admitted - as we have done in the past, and the situation got out of hand”. Cagliari initially took the lead at the beginning of the match when Sau scored the opening goal, but Sassuolo’s young player Adjapong equalised. Sassuolo midfielder Pellegrini was then both the hero and villain around the half-hour mark: first he scored the goal to give his team a 2-1 lead but then, just two minutes later, he was sent off for a foul on the Cagliari player Di Gennaro. The team from Sardinia failed to take advantage of the extra man, but after scoring a penalty to take a 3-1 lead Sassuolo faded badly: a gold by Borriello and two goals by Farias gave Cagliari the win.

In the following game Sassuolo drew 0-0 with Torino at the Mapei Stadium.

“Getting a point against an excellent team like Torino at such a tricky moment in the season - so Mr Carnevali went on to say - was definitely a good result. We managed to move up the table at a time when we had lots of players out injured”. The team then won its next two matches. In the first game of the second half of the season Sassuolo beat Palermo 4-1 in Reggio Emilia. After Quaison scored for Palermo, Sassuolo replied with first-half goals by Matri and Ragusa and then further goals by Matri (again) and Politano in the second half. “Sasol” (as the team is affectionately called by its fans) then won an away match against another team for points: Pescara. Alex Matri scored for Mapei-sponsored Sassuolo in the first minute and then, after Baheback momentarily equalised, Pellegrini and Matri, with his second goal of the game, ensured the match ended in a flourish. “The best thing about the matches against Palermo and Pescara - so Giovanni noted - was the fact that Matri scored twice in two games after a lengthy period without scoring”. Here is what the manager, Mr Eusebio Di Francesco, had to say after the match against Pescara: “We started the match well, only allowing Pescara to make the odd counter-attack after the ball broke in their favour. We deserved the win. I changed our tactics slightly and it paid off. What do I think about Alessandro Matri? He is now fitter and moving better and you can see the difference.”

THE MIGHTY JUVENTUS COMES TO PLAY

The third game of the second half of the season saw Juventus come to play at Mapei Stadium. Sassuolo fans were hoping for the same result as on 28th October 2015, when Sassuolo won 1-0, but it was not to be. Before the start of the match at Mapei stadium that was a complete sell-out, Mr Di Francesco made it clear that “if you make any mistakes against Juventus, they will punish you”: how right he turned out to be. During the first 25 minutes of the game Juventus took complete control of the left-hand side of the pitch and scored twice to take a 2-0 lead. Some magical assists came from the left allowing Higuain and Khedira to both score. As Mr Di Francesco went on to note, “we made mistakes straight away and after Juventus after took a 2-0 lead it all became more complicated”. Without Gazzola, Lirola and other injured defenders, the Sassuolo manager decided to play Antei at right back: “He is actually a central defender, but I had to play him out wide because I had no other alternatives. I did it because I knew Antei could win a lot of balls in the air. Both Juventus’s goals resulted from our mistakes. And let’s not forget that, as well as having some great forwards, Juventus had two giants like Bonucci and Chiellini in defence.

After the deadlock was broken by Higuain’s goal our forwards and midfield players never really reacted. I expected the team to play better and show more fight. Last year we played the perfect defensive match at home against Juventus, this time we didn’t”. In the second half Matri had a great chance to pull one back: unfortunately, Buffon once again showed what a great goalkeeper he is and made a crucial save. “I am sorry - so Alexandro Matri, a former Juventus player, said after the game - we did our best but we could not turn things around”. Aquilani, another former Juventus player, was also disappointed: “Juventus’s pressing caused us problems: they proved they are champions”.

CONFIDENCE IS RUNNING HIGH AGAIN AFTER THE WINTER BREAK

After the fourth game of the second half of the season, Sassuolo was lying 14th in the league table with 27 points. The three points deducted for some dubious bureaucratic reason after the team had won the match against Pescara earlier on in the season had turned out to be a severe handicap. Nevertheless, in the sequence of games from the 17th to the 22nd week of the season, Sassuolo won 7 points taking the team up to 12th place in the table alongside Cagliari and Crotone. It is true that some teams have played a match less, but having six clubs below you at the winter break (after playing matches against both Inter Milan and Juventus) was encouraging for a team hoping to move up into the top half of the table in the Spring. As Mr Carnevali noted, “it’s true that this has been a difficult season for Sassuolo, although the team has played some good matches and certainly performed admirably in the Europa league”.

ITALIAN CUP

After finishing sixth in the 2015-16 Italian League, Sassuolo was one of the seeded teams in the 2016-17 Italian Cup. Its Cup campaign got under way in the round of the last 16 in a match against Cesena at Mapei Stadium. Unfortunately, “Sasol” lost 2-1 and was knocked out. Pellegrini (Sassuolo) and Cesena’s Ciano (penalty) and Laribi were the goal scorers.