An early Alieu Fadera strike sealed a 1–0 victory for Sassuolo over Cremonese on Sunday, ending the Neroverdi’s long winless run since December 6, as club captain Domenico Berardi made his return to action after injury.
Sassuolo made the perfect start, opening the scoring just three minutes in. Armand Laurienté unleashed a long-range effort that Cremonese goalkeeper Emil Audero could only parry back into the danger area, allowing Fadera to react quickest and tap home from close range ahead of Matteo Bianchetti.
Cremonese looked to respond in the 14th minute when Maximilian Vandeputte won possession and slipped a through ball to Jamie Vardy.
The English striker aimed for goal, but Sassuolo goalkeeper Arijanet Muric reacted sharply, blocking the effort with his foot.
Laurienté continued to threaten from distance and tried his luck again later in the half, though his effort flew over the crossbar.
The French winger remained lively after the restart, delivering a dangerous cross from the left that found Luca Moro off balance in the box, but the striker dragged his shot wide of the near post.
Cremonese made an attacking change at half-time, introducing Dennis Johnsen for Tommaso Barbieri, yet the Grigiorossi still struggled to trouble Muric.
The atmosphere lifted in the 59th minute when Domenico Berardi was introduced, marking his first appearance since late November following injury.
Johnsen later created an opening for Federico Bonazzoli with a clever through ball into the area, but the striker hesitated on the ball, allowing Sassuolo’s defence to recover before he could only find the outside of the net.
Audero kept Cremonese in contention with an outstanding save from a Laurienté free kick, tipping the winger’s effort away from the top corner.
Sassuolo pushed for a second goal late on, with Josh Doig firing over from the edge of the box and Nicholas Pierini striking the woodwork with an audacious lob from distance.
The result lifts Sassuolo to 26 points in the Serie A standings, while Cremonese remain on 23 points and are now winless in eight league matches, having scored just once during that run.
