Cesena held Sassulo, 1-1 at the smog hit Mapei Stadium on Saturday evening in Serie A.
Simone Zaza gave the lead for the home side with a well struck penalty in the 75th minute, but Ze Eduardo’s header in the final minute of added time handed Cesena a point to cherish.
Cesena started the game brightly and within three minutes they had two glorious chances to go front, but Gregoire Defrel’s shot on goal was blocked by his own team mate Hugo Almeida, before Sassuolo goalkeeper Albero Pomini easily saved a Ze Eduardo attempt.
Moments later, Antonio Floro Flores won a free kick for Sassuolo near the left corner of the box. Saphir Taider had stepped up to deliver a beautiful free-kick, however Zaza failed to make a good connection with the ball and couldn’t find the target.
Midway through the first half, Zaza had made a fine run through the center before attempting a shot on goal from 30 yards, but his shot was easily saved by Cesena goalkeeper Nicola Leali.
On the half an hour mark, Ze Eduardo’s loose ball near the edge of his own box directly found Domenico Berardi, but the Italian’s left foot effort on goal was smartly blocked by Stefano Lucchini. Moments later, Taider failed to meet Floro Flores’ delicious low cross which needed just a touch to find the net.
As the first half was heading towards its end, Sassuolo created a series of chances to go in front. Leali was made to work as the goalkeeper had made an initial double save blocking the efforts of Berardi and Simone Missiroli, before denying Zaza and Emanuele Terranova from close range.
The Neroverdi started the second period brightly with Zaza and Berardi having their shots saved in the initial five minutes. Berardi was lucky to remain on the pitch as his awful tackle on Daniele Capelli saw him to receive only the yellow.
On the hour mark, Zaza once again had a good chance to score but his shot from the left saw the ball fall into the hands of Leali.
However, Sassuolo were then gifted a penalty in the final quarter of the second half when Vrsaljko was fouled by Horour Magnusson inside the box. Zaza made no mistake in converting the penalty to give the Neroverdi a much deserved lead.
Cesena came close to scoring immediately on the counter, but Almeida failed to get a touch on Franco Brienza’s cross, allowing the ball to run out for a goal kick.
Defrel almost equalised late on, but Pomini lept to his left and got a great hand to the shot to send it out for a corner.
Then in a dramatic twist, in the last minute of added time, Ze Eduardo came to for the Cesena’s rescue as he met Defrel’s cross to head home and level the score.
