Sassuolo Stuns Juventus With Stoppage-Time Winner in Wild Finish

Nobody could have predicted what was coming until about half an hour from time, and then the MAPEI Stadium saw four goals in just 26 minutes. Sassuolo walked away with a 3-2 win over Juventus after tasting glory with an 88th-minute goal that looked decisive, only for the visitors to level things up in stoppage time before Sassuolo itself delivered the final blow.

The first half, truth be told, promised less than what eventually unfolded. Domenico Berardi had a couple of attempts that drifted just wide of the post, Francisco Conceicao answered with a shot that clipped the crossbar, and the match went into the break scoreless after an opening quarter hour that offered few thrills and plenty of fouls from both sides.

The final explosion

The second half took its time to come alive, but once it did, there was no stopping it. In the 64th minute, Sebastiano Esposito struck a low shot with his right foot from the center of the box, set up by Nemanja Matic, to make it 1-0. Juventus, who had been pushing forward with Douglas Luiz and Kerim Alajbegovic trying their luck from outside the area without success, found their answer in the 81st minute: Edon Zhegrova, who had come on in the second half, equalized with a left-footed strike from the center of the box. The match seemed headed for a draw, but Sassuolo wasn't finished. In the 88th minute, Kieron Bowie, also a recent substitute, finished with his left foot after an assist from Darryl Bakola to make it 2-1. Juventus, however, struck back almost at the death: in the 90th minute, with the match already in second-half stoppage time, Zhegrova completed his brace with a left-footed finish off a cross from Randal Kolo Muani to make it 2-2. Everything pointed to a share of the spoils, but the board showed four minutes of stoppage time, and at some point after that Sassuolo went back in front to seal the final 3-2.

The numbers behind the match

Possession and offensive volume favored Juventus, who controlled the ball and created more chances, though it wasn't enough to take home all three points.

According to our post-match estimate based on shot location, the xG for the match came out to 1.086 for Sassuolo and 1.319 for Juventus, figures that point to an evenly matched contest in terms of danger created, even though the visitors had nearly double the total shots.

What the result means

In the Serie A standings, both teams arrived with nearly identical records: Juventus with 7 points from 4 matches played (2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss) and Sassuolo with the same point total and the same match record. The result leaves Sassuolo with a win that slipped away from Juventus at the worst possible moment, right when the draw seemed secured following Zhegrova's stoppage-time goal. For Sassuolo, it was a finish that made up for a scoreless first half; for Juventus, the feeling of having let something slip through their fingers that they already had in hand.