Video: unbeaten run continues as Roma devour Sassuolo
Roma kept their unbeaten Serie A record intact with a 3-0 thrashing of visitors Sassuolo on Saturday evening. The result, in the eleventh round of fixtures, leaves them and Lazio as the only two sides yet to taste defeat this season.
Mario Hermoso broke the deadlock in the 27th minute. Sassuolo's Sebastian Walukiewicz then turned the ball into his own net three minutes later, before Rodrigo Mora wrapped things up with the third in the 58th minute.
Victory lifted Roma to 27 points and up into second place provisionally, a single point behind leaders Lazio, who face Napoli tomorrow. Sassuolo stay stuck on 8 points in seventeenth.
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Early dominance for the hosts
The hosts imposed their dominance and settled the encounter with three goals, one of them an own goal. Sassuolo started brightly, going close in the third minute, but Roma goalkeeper Devis Vasquez beat away Nemanja Matic's effort from outside the box.
Sebastian Walukiewicz and Jay Idzes both tried their luck for the visitors in the fourth minute. Then Roma seized the attacking initiative.
Sassuolo's defence repelled Manu Koné in the seventh minute, and Leonardo Balerdi squandered another chance in the 12th. The pressure kept coming. A Rodrigo Mora corner in the 17th minute caused problems, and a minute later Bryan Cristante's header was hacked clear by the defence.
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Three minutes to get the job done in the first half
Mario Hermoso broke the deadlock in the 27th minute. The defender lashed a left-footed strike from inside the box and found the back of Sassuolo's net.
Three minutes later, Roma doubled their advantage. Sassuolo defender Sebastian Valukiewicz turned the ball into his own net by mistake.
Roma pushed for a third before the break. Arijanet Muric kept out a Matias Soule effort in the 40th minute, then Cristante headed a chance wide on 44. The hosts went in two goals to the good at half-time.
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Decisive blow: Moura has his say
Sassuolo made two changes at the restart, but Roma kept coming. Donyell Malen wasted two chances in quick succession in the 48th and 49th minutes, then Moldovan keeper Moretsch beat away his effort in the 55th.
Roma all but put the game to bed in the 58th minute. Malen worked a slick move and teed up Rodrigo Mora, who lashed home with his right foot from inside the box for a third.
Ibrahim Soulaiman spurned a chance for Sassuolo in the 62nd minute. Both sides rang the changes throughout the half.
Roma, meanwhile, pressed for more. Moretsch denied Nicolo Pisilli in the 79th minute before Cristante and Baldanzi passed up two further openings.
Nothing changed in the closing stages despite Roma's relentless pursuit, and the match finished a clean 3-0 win for the hosts.
