Football
2019-20 Italian Serie A
SAS 
4
FT
 ROMA
2
Reuters 4y

Roma fall to Sassuolo, lose grip on fourth as Pellegrini sees red

Sassuolo scored three goals in the first half hour as they upset fourth-placed Roma 4-2 in Serie A on Saturday, their first-ever win vs. the Giallorossi.

Mid-table Sassuolo had drawn five and lost eight of their previous 13 meetings with Roma but never looked back after striker Francesco Caputo stunned the visitors with two goals in the first 16 minutes.

Caputo broke clear to sweep the ball past Pau Lopez in the seventh minute, then finished off a slick passing move by turning in Jeremy Toljan's pass just nine minutes later. It got worse for Roma as Filip Djuricic latched onto Domenico Berardi's pass to place the ball past Lopez for the third after only 26 minutes.

Edin Dzeko headed one back for Roma in the 55th minute to give Roma a momentarily lifeline, before Lorenzo Pellegrini was dismissed after picking up a second yellow card in the 69th minute.

Ten-man Roma did not drop their heads though, pulling within one just four minutes later via a Jordan Veretout penalty, after Jeremie Boga handled in the box. The Sassuolo wide man immediately made amends for his error, smashing a curler into the top corner just one minute later to go from zero to hero.

Roma will now anxiously watch Atalanta's match on Sunday against Genoa, who can leapfrog the capital club into fourth with a win over Davide Nicola's relegation strugglers.

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