Serie A | Sassuolo 1-1 Parma: Share of the spoils in local derby battle

The Emilia-Romagna Derby ended in a draw, as Mateo Pellegrino cancelled out the Kristian Thorsvedt opener for Sassuolo and Parma to share the points.

The Neroverdi were comfortably mid-table, holding Milan and Bologna to recent draws, though Domenico Berardi, Filippo Romagna and Daniel Bologna were injured, with Wayo Coulibaly at AFCON. Carlos Cuesta was coming off a morale-boosting victory over Fiorentina, though Zion Suzuki, Abdoulaye Ndiaye and Matija Frigan were long-term absentees.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

This was a local derby and started with a scramble in the box, Mateo Pellegrino unable to prod home from 12 yards thanks to a desperate Tarek Muharemovic block.

Instead, Sassuolo took the lead when Sebastian Walukiewicz put in a cross from the right and Kristian Thorstvedt peeled away from his marker for the precise glancing header from 10 yards.

Lautaro Valenti’s header was off target and Armand Laurienté’s finish smothered, but Parma equalised when Andrea Pinamonti lost it playing out from the back. Pellegrino turned Nemanja Matic and bent the left-foot finish around Jay Idzes into the far bottom corner from outside the area.

Pinamonti failed to make the most of a misplaced pass in midfield, as Mandela Keita got back in time for the block, while Laurienté fired straight at Edoardo Corvi.

Pellegrino’s angled drive tested Arijanet Muric at the near post after the restart, but Josh Doig went even closer when his turn from 12 yards clipped the base of the upright moments later.

Muric rushed off his line and made the save when Pontus Almqvist stumbled clear on goal, then flew to palm Almqvist’s header over the bar.

Ismael Koné blasted just over from the edge of the box for Sassuolo, but the two teams could not be separated.

Sassuolo 1-1 Parma

Thorstvedt 12 (S), Pellegrino 24 (P)