Empoli stole a 1-0 victory against Sassuolo at the Stadio Carlo Castellani in their Sunday afternoon Serie A fixture.
Neither side looked particularly threatening, but Massimo Maccarone found a late winner for the Tuscans who were reduced to ten men when Piotr Zielinski was sent off.
The visitors were dealt an early blow when Domenico Berardi pulled up in the match warm-up, just as he received his international call-up from Antonio Conte. The Azzurri also lost debutant Marcel Buchel to injury in the first half, in which there was little of note. Empoli looked the more threatening, with Massimo Maccarone having a few shots at goal, but never troubling Andrea Consigli.
Emanuele Terranova escaped punishment for a blatant hand-ball offense, which the referee didn’t see. In the second half the Tuscans continued to press high up the pitch. Rade Krunic came the closest to opening the score when Manuel Pucciarelli found him with a through ball, but the Bosnian somehow sent his shot wide of the near post.
Substitute Nicola Sansone lead a response at the other end, coming close to catching Lukasz Skorupski off guard with a curling effort from distance but it drifted just wide. Marko Livaja had an attempt after taking to the field late on, but it was far too weak.
Very late in the game, Empoli found the match winner. Massimo Maccarone rose the highest from a corner to beat Consigli. However, the Tuscans were left to sweat it out when Piotr Zielinski saw a second yellow card. Despite this they held on for the vital three points.
Sassuolo have seen their six game unbeaten run in Serie A ended while Empoli now have seven points which moves them off the bottom of the table.
