Sassuolo shared the points with Atalanta in a dramatic 2-2 encounter at the Mapei Stadium in their Sunday afternoon Serie A fixture.
Mauricio Pinilla put Atalanta ahead after Sassuolo’s Nicola Sansone missed an early penalty but Francesco Magnanelli soon leveled matters for the Neroverdi. Pinilla again put the visitors ahead but his strike was cancelled out by Antonio Floro Flores in a game where both sides finished with ten men after both Pinilla and Vrsaljko were dismissed.
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Sassuolo
Andrea Consigli – 6.5 – Blameless
Back against his former employers he couldn’t do anything to prevent Pinilla scoring his sensational goal, and was left for dead when the Chilean scored his second. Made sure his side earned the point by saving the penalty from Moralez.
Sime Vrsaljko – 4.5 – Villain
Guilty of making a terrible back-pass, with Pinilla pinching the ball and scoring his second of the game. Yellow carded late in the game for a badly-timed tackle, then sent off two minutes later for fouling Moralez in the box.
Paolo Cannavaro – 5.5 – Slow
Tried desperately to get goal-side when Pinilla was through for his second, but didn’t have the support
Francesco Acerbi – 5.5 – Poor
Didn’t challenge Pinilla for his first goal and caught ball-watching for the second goal, didn’t look confident for much of the game.
Federico Peluso – 5.5 – Absent
Didn’t provide much going forward and didn’t involve himself in defence often enough. Not a memorable performance against his former side.
Simone Missiroli – 6 – Workhorse
Kept the ball moving and aided the defence when needed. Booked for a late lunge on Drame late in the game.
Francesco Magnanelli – 6.5 – Screamer
Leveled the score in fantastic fashion with a long-range effort that had Sportiello scrambling. Worked the ball around well and looked a threat every time he received the ball outside the box.
Alfred Duncan – 6 – Engine
The Ghanaian as ever was full of running, but picked up a rather senseless early booking for dissent following a free kick. Won the ball back quickly and just kept going right to the end.
Antonio Floro Flores – 8 – Emphatic
Replaced Politano in the starting-eleven and had an instant impact on the game by winning a penalty. Sadly for the striker, Sansone couldn’t convert from the spot. Instinctively rolled the ball across for Magnanelli to score. Leveled the score brilliantly from outside the box with a curling effort past Sportiello.
Gregoire Defrel – 6 – Isolated
Didn’t see a great deal of the ball, had a sniff of a chance in the second half but sent it straight at Sportiello. Replaced by Floccari in the second half.
Nicola Sansone – 6 – Unlucky
Had the ball in his hands very early on for a spot kick, which he saw saved excellently by Sportiello. Picked up a yellow card in the second half, but ultimately didn’t contribute much else to the attack. Replaced by Politano after an hour.
Substitutes
Matteo Politano – 6 – Ineffective
Came on in the place of Sansone in the second half. Didn’t provide much and looked a tad isolated.
Sergio Floccari – 6 – Misfiring
Replaced Defrel as the Neroverdi went in search of the winner. Didn’t cause any problems against his former club in the dying minutes.
Diego Falcinelli – N/A
Late cameo for the 24 year-old striker.
Atalanta
Marco Sportiello – 6 – Busy
Called into action immediately when Cherubin gave away a penalty. He saved Sansone’s spot kick brilliantly, diving to his left to stop him sneaking it into the corner. However, he couldn’t prevent Magnanelli’s long range effort getting past him, nor the curling shot from Floro Flores.
Boukary Drame – 6 – Good
Strong in the challenge and full of running up and down the right flank. On the receiving end of a brutal challenge late in the game from Missiroli.
Gabriel Paletta – 6.5 – Dominant
Given an early warning by the referee for some over-exuberant defending, which seemed to wake him up. Adjusted to the situation well and kept the depleted Sassuolo attack in check.
Nicolo Cherubin – 6 – Recovered
Gave away a very early penalty for dragging back Floro Flores. Probably should have closed down the striker against when he scored, but other then that seemed to recover from his early mistake.
Gianpaolo Bellini – 6 – Decent
The club captain got forward positively, and aided the midfield players when not defending. Replaced by Toloi later in the game.
Marten De Roon – 6.5 – Rough
Tough into the challenge and uncompromising in clearing his lines. Misplaced a few passes but performed admirably.
Jasmin Kurtic – 6 – Average
Back against his former side, skied a late chance in the first half in the box. Didn’t have much else to contribute, eventually replaced by Raimondi.
Carlos Carmona – 6.5 – Influential
Moved the ball forward with purpose and supported the attack with distinction. Could have perhaps caused the defenders more problems, but read the situation well and kept battling away in the middle of the park.
Maximiliano Moralez – 6.5 – Pacy
Blistering off the mark and full of trickery, a constant menace for Sassuolo. Fouled in the box late in the game and had the chance to win the game, but Consigli saved his attempt from the spot.
Mauricio Pinilla – 7.5 – Hyde
Set the standard very early on with a sublime bicycle kick to beat Consigli, then doubled his account with a fortuitous interception from a back pass to slide it past Consigli. The Chilean was then booked for a foul on Acerbi, and then saw red for a similar foul on Peluso. Jekyll and Hyde performance from Pinilla today.
Alejandro Gomez – 6.5 – Creator
Credited with the excellent ball into the box for Pinilla to score. Replaced by Monachello after the Argentinian ran out of stream.
Substitutes
Cristian Raimondi – 6 – Calming
Came on for Kurtic in the second half. Added some solidity to the team.
Gaetano Monachello – N/A
Brought on in search of the winner.
Rafael Toloi – N/A
Late cameo in the place of Bellini, making his debut for the club.
