Sassuolo 1-1 Cagliari

Sassuolo and Cagliari shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in their first Serie A match of the new season at the Mapei stadium on Sunday.The home side had the better of the first half and took the lead through Simone Zaza in the 42nd minute, but Marco Sau equalised two minutes later to earn Cagliari a deserved point.New Cagliari coach Zdenek Zeman had to do without striker Victor Ibarbo through injury with Diego Farias chosen to play alongside Andrea Cossu and Sau in attack.The hosts had the first chance in the 11th minute when Nicola Sansone's bullet strike from outside the area forced Cagliari goalkeeper Simone Colombi into a diving save at full stretch.Zeman was forced to make his first substitution in the 24th minute with Antonio Balzano replacing an injured Francesco Pisano.Sassuolo continued to press forward and in the 34th minute, Domenico Berardi tested Colombi's reflexes with a powerful strike from the right side of the area which the keeper cleared.Berardi then set up Zaza in the box and the 21-year-old forward's right-footed volley beat Colombi to put Sassuolo ahead.Sassuolo's joy was short-lived, though, as Cagliari pulled level two minutes later.Balzano's cross found Sau in the area and the Cagliari forward struck the ball past Sassuolo goalkeeper Alberto Pomini from six yards out.The visitors could have gone in front in the 67th minute had Pomini not made a great save to clear Danilo Avelar's close-range effort.With eight minutes remaining, Sansone almost handed Sassuolo all three points but saw his goal-bound attempt palmed away by Colombi.ends