Sassuolo staged a quick-fire comeback to beat Udinese 2–1 on Sunday, overturning an early deficit to move above their hosts into ninth place in the Serie A standings.
Both sides entered the match hoping to recover from defeats the previous weekend. Udinese had suffered a 2–1 loss at Lecce, while Sassuolo were coming off a heavy 5–0 thrashing by league leaders Inter.
Udinese coach Kosta Runjaic made a tactical adjustment and restored Nicolo Zaniolo to the starting XI.
On the opposite bench, Fabio Grosso made just one change, bringing in Luca Lipani to replace the suspended Nemanja Matic in midfield.
The home side struck first inside the opening 10 minutes. A weak pass from left-back Josh Doig was intercepted high up the pitch by Oumar Solet, who drove forward before squeezing a low finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Sassuolo, however, emerged a different side after the break. Ten minutes into the second half, they launched a sweeping move from a goal-kick following an Udinese corner.
Armand Lauriente, Ulisses Garcia and Andrea Pinamonti combined neatly down the left, with Lauriente finishing coolly into the far corner to level the score.
Udinese’s problems deepened almost immediately. Just two minutes later, Sassuolo struck again, this time down the right flank.
The same trio combined once more, and Garcia’s cross found Pinamonti, who powered a header into the net to complete the turnaround.
The victory lifts Sassuolo into ninth place, leapfrogging Udinese, who drop to 10th. Both teams now sit level on 32 points after 25 matches, but the visitors edge ahead on the table following their comeback win.
