Sassuolo ended their eight-round winless run with a dramatic victory thanks to Kristian Thorstvedt, as Kaio Jorge missed a last-gasp Frosinone penalty.
These were two teams in crisis who had seemed comfortably mid-table only to slide into the danger zone. The hosts were rocked by the season-ending Domenico Berardi injury in their defeat to Verona, which left them in penultimate place under third coach of the campaign Davide Ballardini. The Canarini were still missing Anthony Oyono, Abdou Harroui, Mateus Lusuardi, Riccardo Marchizza, Sergio Kalaj and Kevin Bonifazi.
See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.
Frosinone lost Emanuele Valeri to an ankle injury in the opening minutes, while Fares Ghedjemis was unlucky to see his angled drive skim the far post after a quickly-taken free kick.
Armand Lauriente tested Stefano Turati from a tricky angle after sprinting to the by-line, but there was controversy on 55 minutes when the referee pointed to the spot for a Kristian Thorstvedt challenge on Luca Mazzitelli. However, following a VAR review, the official realised that Thorstvedt had got his toe to the ball.
Moments later, Thorstvedt gave Sassuolo the lead at the other end, springing the offside trap down the left to smash the angled drive into the far bottom corner.
Andrea Pinamonti had a huge opportunity to make it 2-0, but his low curler was deflected inches past the far post.
Pol Lirola misjudged the bounce of a ball over the top and over-hit the lob, but Frosinone did get a penalty when the referee rather harshly judged the light Gian Marco Ferrari nudge in the back of Marvin Cuni to be a foul.
However, Kaio Jorge stepped up and stroked the spot-kick onto the base of the upright at the 90th minute, letting Sassuolo off the hook.
Sassuolo 1-0 Frosinone
Thorstvedt 58 (S)
Missed penalty: Kaio Jorge 90 (F)
Player statistic
Kristian Thorstvedt | 23' | |||
Josh Doig | 32' |
50' | Farès Ghedjemis | |||
Kristian Thorstvedt (Assist: Uros Racic) |
58' | |||
Armand Lauriente | 72' | |||
90' | Kaio Jorge |