Serie A, Sassuolo-Roma 2-2: Abraham, Smalling, Traoré and Cristante

From our correspondent Massimo Cecchini

February 13
– Reggio Emilia

A draw that is worth just seventh place, or rather eighth if Fiorentina beat Spezia. The communicational muscularity of Mourinho this time crashes on a 2-2 against Sassuolo reached in full recovery, sanctified by the goals of Abraham on a penalty, by the own goal of Smalling, Traore and Cristante. In short, even compared to the match against Inter, considering the absences of the hosts, a step backwards for the Giallorossi.

HIERARCHIES REWRITED

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At the start, also thanks to a resentment in the calf that knocks out El Shaarawy, the Giallorossi team confirms the three-man defense, with Kumbulla in place of the injured Ibanez. In the median, Karsdorp and Vina are on the flanks with Mkhitaryan and Oliveira playing the game, while Pellegrini – with Zaniolo disqualified – goes to support Felix and Abraham, not neglecting to stay on Lopez’s feet in the non-possession phase. The boys of Dionisi, orphans of Scamacca, Raspadori, Djuricic and Toljan, work with a 4-3-3 that forward proposes Berardi, Defrel and Traore, ready to enjoy the support of Maxime Lopez, Frattesi and Henrique. The neroverdi start well, with Berardi immediately engaging Rui Patricio and Traore in the 6 ‘who would even score at 7’, canceled by a previous touch of the hand. At 12 ‘Berardi still touches the wood of the Giallorossi goalkeeper, but from that moment the hosts lose ground, so much so that at 14’, a throw from the median, allows Felix to present himself alone in front of Consiglio, but the attacker shoots him. Slowly Roma took control of the median, also because, except for a shot from Traore in the 40th minute, the green-and-black attack was no longer able to hold the ball to pick up the team. Thus Abraham begins to become the showman. In the 30th minute one of his slipstream goals comes out a little, while three minutes later one of his goals is canceled for offside. It is the antechamber of the advantage, which comes when at 45 ‘a cross from Vina is deflected by hand by Chiriches. It is a penalty, but neither Pellegrini nor Oliveira, the specialists, appear on the spot, but the striker himself, who scores in the 46th minute.

DUCK RUI

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In the second half, however, the teams did not even have time to warm up from the cold that began to bite, which Sassuolo equalized. At 2 ‘Traore is caught behind Karsdorp and his cross, deflected by Smalling, seems easy to catch from Rui Patricio, who, however, throws it into the goal. The Giallorossi, who wanted to play a throw-in in the spaces, so they find themselves having to weave their part of the canvas, with the teams that slowly get longer. So at 21 ‘Frattesi finds himself alone in front of Rui Patricio, albeit in a secluded position, but ends on the side. Then come the changes. Inside Harroui for Henrique and Cristante and Shomurodov for Oliveira and Felix. The turning point, however, is neroverde because at 28 ‘Traore mocked Karsdorp and Mancini, freeing himself in front of Rui Patricio and electrocuting him. Mourinho then gets upset and puts in Veretout and Maitland-Niles for Vina and Mancini, moving on to the back four. At 33 ‘comes a new turning point, with the expulsion of Ferrari for a double yellow card. Dionisi runs for cover, replacing Defrel and Frattesi with Tressoldi and Ayhan. The punishment from the limit triggered by the “red” is beaten by Pellegrini, but Consiglio blocks. Sassuolo goes to 5-3-1, gets Berardi out for Ceide and raises the bunker, so as to push the Special One to insert Perez too. At 42 ‘, however, it is Mkhitaryan who shoots high from a good position. In the 94th minute, on a corner from Veretout, it was Cristante’s turn to avoid the twelfth defeat of the season, scoring the head draw, validated by the goal-line. However, it is time to note two more occasions: of Traore in the 50th minute on the counterattack and of Abraham leading in the 51st minute, in a heart-pounding rush, which does not end even after the final whistle, since a furious Berardi must be calmed by the Mourinho himself. Moral: a fair equal, which in the outcome hurts Sassuolo more, but more to Roma in the standings.