Sassuolo again completed a comeback from 2-0 down to draw 2-2, this time with Spezia thanks to a Giacomo Raspadori double.
The Neroverdi were making their mark as giant-killers this season, beating Juventus and Milan, then fighting back from 2-0 down to hold Napoli 2-2. Filip Djuricic, Pedro Obiang, Filippo Romagna and Edoardo Goldaniga were still out of action. Spezia were mired in the bottom three and made numerous changes from the side that lost to Inter midweek.
Here was almost a penalty in the opening minute, as Davide Frattesi was brought down by Arkadiusz Reca inches outside the box. From that free kick, Domenico Berardi forced Ivan Provedel to palm it on to the crossbar.
Berardi should’ve done better when ballooning over the bar from 12 yards, while Spezia had a goal disallowed when M’Baye Nzola was offside as he rolled across for Viktor Kovalenko to slide in at the back post.
Provedel fingertipped a Berardi free kick over the bar, then he was beaten by a Gianluca Scamacca strike that dipped to bounce off the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten.
Spezia took the lead against the run of play, as Arkadiusz Reca gathered a poor Kaan Ayhan clearance, fizzed an assist in from the left for Rey Manaj to meet it from four yards.
Manaj nearly completed his brace soon after, the angled drive beaten away at the near post by Andrea Consigli.
Sassuolo’s defence was caught napping for the second goal straight after the restart. Nzola got away from Ayhan down the left and pulled back from the by-line, where Emmanuel Gyasi anticipated Kyriakopoulos to tap in.
The visitors were also very unlucky, clipping the frame of the goal for the third time when Giacomo Raspadori spun round to get his shot away from inside the box, finding the far post.
Scamacca got the ball in the net moments later, but had wandered offside on the Jeremy Toljan assist.
They did eventually get their goal, as Kelvin Amian anticipated Gregoire Defrel on the Berardi ball over the top, but effectively just provided the accidental assist for Raspadori to score from 10 yards.
Sassuolo were swarming all over Spezia and got the equaliser when Raspadori gathered from Berardi, turned his defender inside out going left to right and drilled into the far bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Moments later, Jeremie Boga hit the side-netting, but Consigli also had to parry Nzola’s angled drive at the other end.
Spezia 2-2 Sassuolo
Manaj 35 (Sp), Gyasi 47 (Sp), Raspadori 66, 79 (Sa)