Sassuolo 2-6 Lazio: Gattuso's side seize top spot

Sassuolo were outnumbered in the stands and overrun on the pitch. Around 10,000 Lazio supporters made the midweek trip to Reggio Emilia and largely drowned out the home crowd at the Mapei Stadium. Gennaro Gattuso's side rewarded them with a 6-2 win that leaves Lazio alone at the top of Serie A.

It could have been even worse for Alberto Aquilani. Lazio missed two second-half penalties, both saved by Stefano Turati, and still scored six against hosts who had been down to ten men since the 31st minute. Sassuolo have now lost three league games in a row, while Lazio have won five straight. These are two clubs moving in opposite directions, and moving fast.

Taylor and Isaksen set the tone in a frantic opening

The visitors were ahead almost before the home side had settled. A delivery was only half-cleared, Luca Lipani made a mistake in the box, and Kenneth Taylor swept the loose ball past Turati with his left foot in the 2nd minute. The goal stood only after a lengthy VAR check. The review had to decide whether Davide Frattesi, standing in an offside position, had blocked the goalkeeper's view as the ball passed through his legs. It ruled that he had not interfered.

Sassuolo answered within five minutes. Josh Doig cut the ball back and Kristian Thorstvedt hit it first time. A deflection off Josip Sutalo carried it in for the equaliser, his second league goal of the season.

The parity lasted six minutes. Mattia Zaccagni beat his man and cut inside before finding Gustav Isaksen, who curled a first-time left-footed finish inside the far post. Three minutes later it was 3-1. Isaksen carried the ball through the middle and released Taylor down the left. Taylor's low ball across the box found Romano Floriani Mussolini sliding in at the back post to tap home from close range.

The assistant referee's flag went up for offside, but VAR overturned the call and the goal was awarded. It was the first Serie A goal of Floriani Mussolini's career, and it came on a night when everything Lazio tried seemed to come off.

Thorstvedt red card leaves Sassuolo facing a mountain

Whatever hope Sassuolo still held faded in the 31st minute. Referee Luca Zufferli showed Thorstvedt a straight red card for a high, studs-up challenge into Zaccagni's lower leg. The man who had scored the hosts' only goal was gone.

Remarkably, ten-man Sassuolo found a second. In the 43rd minute Sebastiano Esposito controlled Simone Cinquegrano's cross on his chest and drilled a low diagonal shot into the far corner. That was also his second league goal of the campaign, and for two minutes the hosts had a contest again.

Then Zaccagni restored the two-goal cushion right on half-time. He was left completely free to head in Isaksen's floated delivery from six yards. It was his first goal from open play in this league campaign, and he dedicated it to his uncle, who is going through health difficulties.

Turati saves two penalties as Noslin finishes the job

The second half handed Turati a personal story amid the wreckage. Shortly after the restart, Cinquegrano handled Zaccagni's delivery in the box and VAR confirmed the penalty. In the 50th minute Turati kept out Zaccagni's spot-kick.

The save only delayed the next goal. In the 55th minute, at the end of a move Zaccagni had started, Tijjani Noslin collected the ball outside the area and bent a right-footed shot into the bottom corner.

Lazio won a second penalty when Duje Ćaleta-Car brought down Isaksen, and in the 61st minute Turati denied Frattesi as well. Saving two penalties in one Serie A match is a rare feat, even on a night when he conceded six.

Four minutes later Noslin picked up Fisayo Dele-Bashiru's pass from distance and launched a right-footed blast into the top corner. That took him to four league goals this season, and he has now scored in three of Lazio's last six league games.

The numbers show the size of the gap. Lazio had 58% of the ball and 16 shots, eight of them on target. Sassuolo managed only two efforts on target all evening, and both went in. That tells you how little else they created, and how exposed they were at the other end.

Gattuso's Lazio seize the summit as pressure mounts on Aquilani

At the final whistle, Lazio's players and staff celebrated at length under the away end, while Sassuolo's squad walked off to loud jeers and whistles. The travelling support meant more than usual: Lazio fans are boycotting the club's home ground in Rome in protest over its ownership. Gattuso made a point of thanking the roughly 10,000 who made the journey on a Tuesday evening.

Floriani Mussolini saw the night the same way. "Dovevamo ripagare questo gesto d'amore dei tifosi," he said. In other words, the team owed the fans something in return for that show of love.

The national press called Lazio an irresistible machine, and the table supports the claim. They have 25 points from a possible 27 and a three-point lead ahead of Inter Milan's midweek fixture. They have also scored in each of their last nine league games, 22 goals in total.

For Sassuolo, the picture is the reverse. Italian commentators condemned a "difesa horror", and Aquilani offered no excuses: "È stata una brutta figura, c'è solo da chiedere scusa", admitting it was an embarrassing showing that called for an apology. His side sit 14th on eight points. They can still score, but they keep conceding, and three straight defeats have turned that weakness into open crisis around the coach.