The advance match of the thirty-first matchday of Serie A between Salernitana and Sassuolo ends with a 2-2 draw which leaves both teams in the relegation zone. Laurienté broke the deadlock in the 37th minute on the counterattack following an assist from Bajrami, who took advantage of a mix-up between Costil and Pirola in the 44th minute to double the lead. Candreva scores from a penalty in the 52nd minute, Maggiore completes the comeback in the 91st minute and freezes the neroverdi, now eighteenth with 25 points.
THE MATCH
The clash between last and penultimate in the class begins with great balance and few ideas: the first opportunity arrives in the 17th minute with a treacherous cross from Pierozzi which forces Consigli into intervention. Ballardini’s team tries to be dangerous on the counterattack, but the Emilians are rather imprecise in the finishing phase. The neroverdi saw their advantage canceled out in the 29th minute, when Defrel was caught offside following the assist for Pinamonti’s goal. The former Empoli striker is once again the protagonist a few minutes later with a nice first-time right-footed shot that ends just above the crossbar. The guest’s goal is in the air and arrives in the 37th minute with another restart, finished off perfectly by Bajrami and coldly closed by Laurienté, the second seal in this Serie A. Salernitana collapses and naively concedes the second goal in the 44th minute: Costil and Pirola make a mess, Pinamonti intercepts the ball and serves the Albanian attacking midfielder into an empty net.
The start of the second half puts the Campanians back in the match, with the penalty kick awarded by Pierozzi (foul by Doig) and converted by Candreva in the 52nd minute. Colantuono’s men regained their confidence and pushed for an equalizer, but Costil was forced to make a great reflex with his foot to avoid Laurienté’s brace. Defrel shoots wide from a good position, in number 45 he threatens the home team’s goal again with a strong left-footed shot to the near post in the 78th minute. Salernitana believes in it at the end and finds the equalizer in the 92nd minute: Vignato looks for Zanoli, who takes advantage of Laurienté’s error and supports Maggiore, ready to secure the final 2-2 (amid the controversy for an alleged foul by Pirola ). Pinamonti tries to change the score again, but his shot is blocked by Costil just before the final whistle. Bitter result for Sassuolo, who reach 25 points and remain in the relegation zone, the Campania team rise to fifteen points.
REPORT CARDS
Laurienté 6.5: Sassuolo is banking on him in Berardi’s absence and this time the winger lives up to expectations, returning to goals after a drought that had lasted since September. In the second half he fails to make a hat trick from an excellent position and is the unfortunate negative protagonist in the 2-2 goal;
Eid 7.5: Ballardini chooses him in the attacking midfield and he produces an assist and a goal in the space of seven minutes, putting in an excellent performance until the substitution;
Pinamonti 7: precious match for the Neroverde center forward, who sees a goal canceled out, comes close to another immediately afterwards, participates in the 1-0 action with a good play and alone builds the 2-0;
Costile 5: not flawless in his exit when Sassuolo took the lead, he scored the second in partnership with Pirola. He partially redeems himself with the save on Laurienté at the start of the second half and the intervention on Pinamonti at the end;
Pierozzi 6: creates the first chance of the match with a cross shot, often launches himself into attack and gets the penalty to make it 2-1. He often suffers from Laurienté in the defensive phase, losing him on several occasions.
THE SCORESHEET
Salernitana-Sassuolo 2-2
Salernitana (4-3-3): Costil 5; Pierozzi 6 (from 40′ st Simy sv), Manolas 5.5 (from 32′ st Boateng 6), Pirola 5, Bradaric 6; Coulibaly 5.5, Maggiore 6.5, Gomis 5.5 (from 1st minute Zanoli 6.5); Tchaouna 5.5 (from 33′ st Vignato 6.5), Ikwuemesi 5.5 (from 19′ st Weissman 5.5), Candreva 7. Available: Fiorillo, Allocca, Gyomber, Pasalidis, Pellegrino, Sfait, Sambia, Martegani, Legowski. All. Colantuono
Sassuolo (4-2-3-1): Tips 6; Toljan 6, Erlic 6 (from 24′ st Kumbulla 6), Ferrari 5.5, Doig 5; Boloca 6, Thorstvedt 5.5 (from 28′ st Racic 5.5); Defrel 6 (from 48′ st Viti sv), Bajrami 7.5 (from 28′ st Henrique 6.5), Laurienté 6.5; Pinamonti 7. Available: Pegolo, Cragno, Missori, Tressoldi, Obiang, Lipani, Castillejo, Volpato, Ceide, Mulattieri. Coach Ballardini
Referee: Sozza
Markers: 37′ Laurienté (Sas), 44′ Bajrami (Sas), 52′ Candreva (Sal), 91′ Maggiore (Sal)
Warned: Pierozzi (Sal), Maggiore (Sal), Laurienté (Sas), Pirola (Sal), Kumbulla (Sas), Vignato (Sal)
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OPTA STATISTICS
• After the first leg had also ended 2-2, Salernitana and Sassuolo drew both matches of the season for the first time in the top division.
• Sassuolo have drawn two consecutive matches in Serie A for the first time since the period between August and September 2022 (three in that case).
• Salernitana drew a home match in Serie A for the first time since December 22nd, also in that case a 2-2 draw against Milan.
• Antonio Candreva (6G, 6A) is just one of three midfielders, along with Christian Pulisic (9G, 6A) and Charles De Ketelaere (6G, 6A) to have scored at least six goals and provided six assists this season.
• The last penalty scored by Antonio Candreva in Serie A before today’s match was against Sassuolo on 6 February 2022 wearing a Sampdoria shirt; the 1987 class took part in 11 goals against the neroverdi in the top flight (five goals, six assists), only against Fiorentina (13) was he involved in more goals in his career in the competition.
• Nedim Bajrami scored a goal and provided an assist in the same match for only the second time in Serie A, the first on 6 December 2021 for Empoli against Udinese.
• Both of Nedim Bajrami’s goals in this championship have come in away games, the first last September 27 at San Siro against Inter – the Albanian footballer with two goals and two assists has already exceeded the number of goal participations of last season with the shirts of Empoli and Sassuolo (two goals, one winning pass).
• Andrea Pinamonti (nine goals and one assist) reached 10 goal participations for only the second time in Serie A, the first in the 2021/2022 season with Empoli (15, 13G, 2A).
• Andrea Pinamonti returned to provide an assist in Serie A for the first time since 20 March 2022, a winning pass against Hellas Verona.
• Giulio Maggiore has scored three goals this season, equaling his personal best in the competition (also three goals with Spezia in 2020/21).
• Alessandro Zanoli has provided two assists in his last three Serie A games, as many winning passes as in his previous 46 games in the competition.
• The last time Sassuolo finished the first half of an away match in Serie A with at least a two-goal deficit was on 12 March 2023, at the Olimpico against Roma.
• Salernitana have conceded 31 goals in the first half, in 31 games, more than any other team in this championship.
• Sassuolo have won only six of the 16 matches in which they have been ahead in Serie A this season.
• Sassuolo is the team that has received the most penalties against in this Serie A (10).
• 50th appearance for Lorenzo Pirola with the Salernitana shirt in all competitions.