Sassuolo fought back to earn a point against Salernitana, thanks to a double from Kristian Thorstvedt, which cancelled out two strikes within the opening 20 minutes from Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi and Boulaye Dia.
It took just shy of five minutes for the visitors to find the lead
A well-timed, defence-splitting through ball released Ikwuemesi, sending him one-on-one with almost a third of the pitch left to apply the finishing touches. Keeping his cool, Ikwuemesi was able to slot calmly past Andrea Consigli in the Sassuolo net.
Samu Castillejo stung the palms of Guillermo Ochoa five minutes later with a dangerous volley from a tight angle within the penalty area. The Mexican’s strong wrist kept him out.
Sassuolo, however, found themselves two goals down with just 17 minutes on the clock.
Loum Tchaouma mazed his way through a congested final third, before releasing Dia, again catching the Sassuolo defensive line off guard. Salernitana’s top scorer took a touch to carry the ball into the area, before firing into the roof of the net from the right-hand side of the box.
Domenico Berardi attempted to get his side back into it with a cleanly-hit strike from the edge of the box 28 minutes in, but his effort sailed to the right of Ochoa’s post.
Though Salernitana had looked the sharper side in the opening exchanges, Sassuolo began to grow into proceedings after half an hour.
Eight minutes later, the deficit had been halved, courtesy of Kristian Thorstvedt. A deep cross towards the far post found the head of Berardi, who was able to steer the ball back across the face of goal for Thorstvedt to tap home from point-blank range.
Andrea Pinamonti then struck the post with a fine, bending effort from outside the area a few moments after the re-start.
Daniel Boloca also fired a venomous drive just wide of Salernitana’s goal with two minutes of regular time left in the first period.
The hosts thought they had earned a penalty just before the break, but those shouts were promptly waved away.
It took just short of five minutes into the second half for Sassuolo to draw themselves level, again through Thorstvedt. He timed his run perfectly to latch on to what had initially looked like a mis-placed cross, before slamming home with his first touch near the penalty spot.
Approaching the hour-mark, things began to even out and the game finally became a relatively-evenly-contested affair.
Salernitana then had their turn to contest for a penalty after the ball appeared to make contact with a Sassuolo arm in the area. Nothing came of it, however.
Ochoa was called into action again on the 81st minute, pulling off a fine double save to deny a pair of Sassuolo efforts from close range. Armand Lauriente then struck the post again for Sassuolo three minutes later.
Again, the woodwork was rattled, this time via a deflected Samuele Mulattieri effort from the middle of the box with five minutes of regular time left to go. Ochoa reacted brilliantly to deny Berardi from the follow-up.
There was certainly frustration from the Salernitana players at the final whistle, as the referee had blown just as the visitors were preparing to launch one final ball into the area from a free-kick.
Sassuolo temporarily lift themselves up to 14th place in the division, although that could change by the end of Friday evening. Salernitana, meanwhile, still find themselves routed to the bottom of the table.
Sassuolo 2-2 Salernitana
Ikwuemesi 5′ (Sal), Dia 17′ (Sal), Thorstvedt 36′, 52′ (Sas).