Serie A | Sassuolo 3-0 Verona – Talisman Berardi propels Neroverdi into 8th

Italian winger Domenico Berardi scored a brace in Sassuolo’s 3-0 win over Verona on Friday evening, with a result that sends the Neroverdi up into eighth place in Serie A.

Fabio Grosso’s side leapfrogged Bologna and Lazio to go temporarily 8th, pending the rest of the weekend’s fixtures. Lazio travel to Cagliari on Saturday night whilst Bologna host Udinese on Monday.

Verona arguably started the stronger of the two sides, as they sought just their third Serie A victory.

After about a quarter of an hour, Amin Sarr was quick to pounce on a loose rebound but the shot was blocked, before five minutes later, Verona January signing Kieron Bowie had a shot cleared off the line after a nice piece of play inside the Neroverdi box.

However, that was about it as far as Veronese optimism was concerned.

Sassuolo 3-0 Verona – Neroverdi put Gialloblu to the sword

In the 40th minute, nice interplay between Lauriente and Pinamonti, led the Italian to taking a shot that took a deflection and went in.

A few minutes later, Sassuolo were given a penalty after Cheikh Niasse committed a foul inside his box. Montipo ended up guessing correctly to deny Berardi from the spot but the Italian pounced on the rebound to give Grosso’s side a healthy lead headed into half-time.

Berardi put the game beyond any doubt around the hour mark, after a quick break in which the Italian converted a simple one-on-one against Montipo.

Things went from bad to worse for the Gialloblu in the closing stages when Al Musrati was shown a second yellow card with five minutes to go, taking the visitors down to 10 men and eliminating any chance of a dramatic comeback.

The match finished with a comfortable three points for the team in green and black, led by a spirited display from their captain.