It was a dramatic Sassuolo victory with the last kick of the game, as Hamed Junior Traore’s solo effort and a Gregoire Defrel diving header wiped out Arthur Cabral’s first goal for 10-man Fiorentina.
This was a head-to-head for European ambitions, as both were fresh from surprise victories over Inter and Atalanta. Gian Marco Ferrari returned from suspension, while Nikola Milenkovic sat out a ban for the Viola, with Lucas Torreira and Matija Nastasic injured.
Gianluca Scamacca smashed his effort not far over, with Gaetano Castrovilli’s ferocious curler going even closer to the far top corner.
Sassuolo opened the scoring with a wonderful solo effort from Hamed Junior Traore, who cut in from the left, squirmed between Alvaro Odriozola and Lucas Martinez Quarta to place a snooker shot into the far bottom corner with his right foot.
Scamacca’s free header on a corner was straight at Bartlomiej Dragowksi and a Krzysztof Piatek diving header went over, while Giacomo Raspadori and Domenico Berardi tested the Viola goalkeeper.
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It was wide open, as Traore almost completed his brace with a header at the back post that clipped the top of the crossbar on a Maxime Lopez cross.
Moments later, Andrea Consigli stuck out a leg to parry the Jonathan Ikone finish from close range.
Dragowski rushed off his line to close down Davide Frattesi, while Consigli again had to deal with Ikone at the near post during a long Fiorentina attacking move.
Ikone sent Piatek clear with an inspired slide-rule pass, but the Pole’s first touch was too heavy and the chance went begging.
Consigli got his fingertips to a trademark Cristiano Biraghi free kick, but Fiorentina went down to 10 men after substitute Giacomo Bonaventura saw red for dissent. He had only been on for a few minutes, was booked for a push on Berardi and said something that prompted the referee to pull out the red card.
Just like in the Coppa Italia against Atalanta, the dismissal only fired Fiorentina up even more and they equalised with Arthur Cabral’s first goal for the club. Castrovilli send Riccardo Saponara down the left, he flashed it across the face of goal and Arthur came sliding in at the back post.
Berardi curled just wide and had Dragowski take the sting out of another strike in stoppages. The captain would not let it go and it was his cross from the right that found Gregoire Defrel’s diving header from six yards to win it, taking advantage of a Martinez Quarta slip.
Sassuolo 2-1 Fiorentina
Traore 20 (S), Arthur Cabral 88 (F), Defrel 94 (S)
Sent off: Bonaventura 80 (F)
Fiorentina has one of the lowest number of yellow cards and by far the most received red cards… it is no coincidence… ref purposefully try to find a way to give red to viola….
The way we receive most of these red cards are shameful….