A thoroughly entertaining match between Sassuolo and Palermo finished all square with a 2-2 scoreline at Mapei Stadium on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Franco Vazquez opened the scoring half an hour in before Gregoire Defrel responded at the stroke of half-time. Simone Missiroli gave the home side the lead in the 50th minute before Uros Djurdjevic equalised seconds later.
Sassuolo thought they had taken the lead in the 16th minute when a Domenico Berardi free kick found Francesco Acerbi whose cushioned header across was turned in by Missiroli but referee Maurizio Mariani blew the whistle for offside.
It was the visitors who drew first blood right at the half-hour mark. Aleksandar Trajkovski did well to make a bit of space for himself to square the ball to Vazquez whose first-time left-footed strike smashed into the top corner of the net, leaving goalkeeper Andrea Consigli without a hope.
Sassuolo drew level with the last kick of the first half. A ball towards Diego Falcinelli came off the heel of the Italian and fell fortuitously to Gregoire Defrel who was able to slide the ball past keeper Stefano Sorrentino.
The Neroverdi seized the advantage in the 50th minute when a Lorenzo Pellegrini cross from the right found the head of Luca Antei who then headed across to an onside Missiroli to nod in from close range.
Seconds later it was level again as Vazquez’s delicious cross found Djurdjevic whose diving header snuck by Consigli.
Palermo were forced to play out the final 15 minutes with 10 men after Achraf Lazaar was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Palermo were able to survive a late onslaught thanks to some Sorrentino heroics which preserved the important point.
The draw gives Sassuolo sole possession of seventh place in the Serie A table, one point ahead of Empoli who play later this afternoon. Palermo meanwhile are alone in the 15th spot on 26 points.
