Cagliari 2-1 Sassuolo

Luca Rossettini scored at both ends of the field, but ended up on the winning side as Cagliari picked up their second win in three by beating Sassuolo 2-1.The Cagliari defender gave his side the lead after 20 minutes, but he then put through his own goal with 15 minutes remaining to give Sassuolo hope.New signing Duje Cop then opened his account for Gianfranco Zola's men to help lift the Sardinians out of the bottom three on Saturday night.Sassuolo ended the game with only 10 men after Francesco Acerbi picked up a late second yellow card as Eusebio Di Francesco's men lost only their second match in their last 14.That excellent run of form had some tipping Sassuolo for a place in Europe next season, but if they are to succeed in that undertaking, they cannot afford to make the kind of mistake they committed to let Cagliari take the lead.Rossettini was left completely unmarked to ghost in and head a corner from the left into the bottom right-hand corner from just five yards out.Di Francesco did not spare his side from his thoughts on their defensive lapse, but it did not seem to sink in as Samuele Longo used his strength to beat two defenders and whip in a dangerous cross, for which there just lacked a taker.An industrious Longo had the ball in the back of the net in the 38th minute, but he was several yards offside when the ball filtered through to him just a few yards from goal.Early in the second half, Joao Pedro had the freedom of the penalty area as the Sassuolo defence was again caught napping, but he planted his shot against the left-hand upright from 10 yards out.Antonio Floro Flores was sent on by Di Francesco, who guessed that the best form of defence was to attack more, and the move almost paid immediate dividends as his shot on the turn was turned wide by Zeljko Brkic.At the other end, Cop showed a reluctance to go alone when he only had Andrea Consigli to beat, choosing instead to pull the ball back towards Albin Ekdal but it was intercepted.Rossettini almost had the ball in the back of the same goal he found in the first half when it spun off his knee and looped over the bar after Capuano deflected a cross against him, but he managed to beat his own goalkeeper soon after when he turned an Acerbi effort past Brkic.Sassuolo's hopes were revived for no more than three minutes, though, as their defence let them down once again, this time leaving Cop in space to volley in his first goal for the club from eight yards.Acerbi's miserable evening ended with just a few minutes left when he saw a second yellow card, effectively ending his side's chances of levelling again.ends