US Sassuolo on Sunday moved second in Serie A behind leaders AC Milan after a thrilling 4-3 win at Bologna, as AS Roma also staged a comeback against promoted Benevento to prevail 5-2.
Roberto de Zerbi’s Sassuolo had been trailing 3-1 after an hour, but three substitutions, including a first start for French midfielder Maxime Lopez, rescued three points for the visitors.
Francesco Caputo set up Filip Djuricic to make it 3-2 after 64 minutes and six minutes later Caputo nodded in the equalizer following a poor clearance from Rodrigo Palacio.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Japan defender Takehiro Tomiyasu handed Sassuolo their third win this season after accidentally turning into his own net with 20 minutes to go.
“It was a wonderful fightback from two goals down, but we haven’t done anything yet. There are difficult matches ahead,” De Zerbi said.
In Rome, Edin Dzeko scored twice as the capital side earned back-to-back wins, despite an early scare after Gianluca Caprari put Benevento ahead after five minutes.
Pedro got his first goal at the Stadio Olimpico after half an hour, with Dzeko scoring four minutes later.
A Jordan Veretout penalty, a second Dzeko goal after 76 minutes and an impressive solo run from Carles Perez before the final whistle sealed the victory.
“We always had control of the game, with little danger,” Roma coach Paulo Fonseca said.
In Udine, Ignacio Pusetto’s late winner earned a first victory of the season for Udinese, 3-2 over a Parma side missing seven players due to COVID-19.
ACF Fiorentina threw away a two-goal lead, before settling for a 2-2 draw at promoted Spezia.
In Turin, an Andrea Belotti brace was not enough to secure a first win of the season for Torino, who slumped 3-2 to Cagliari.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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