Volpato and a Berardi cameo give Sassuolo a 2-1 win over Torino and their first points

Two clubs that opened the season with a 2-1 defeat met at the Mapei Stadium, and only one of them left with anything. Sassuolo got there first.

Cristian Volpato broke it open on 32 minutes: Vasilije Adzic laid the ball back and Volpato met it first time with his left foot from distance, straight into the corner. Torino levelled in first-half stoppage time, Alessio Cacciamani crossing from the left for Pietro Comuzzo to head in at the far post on 45+2.

The winner belonged to a substitute. Domenico Berardi, on off the bench, drilled a low finish through a crowd of legs from a Laurienté free-kick on 78 minutes. An offside flag went up and was overruled, the passive player judged not to be interfering.

Comuzzo's goal had a subplot

Comuzzo's stoppage-time header carried a subplot that would matter again three rounds later: the centre-back was one of three Torino signings arriving from Fiorentina over the summer, alongside midfielder Rolando Mandragora and full-back Niccolò Fortini. All three were involved when Torino travelled to Florence on matchday 3 and beat their old club 2-1, Mandragora and Ché Adams scoring the goals that turned the game around. Ignazio Abate's side went into that day level with Fiorentina on zero points; this defeat at the Mapei Stadium was the opening setback in what became a mixed first month for the Torino manager.

Torino had the ball, Sassuolo had the chances

Torino edged possession at 54% but managed 10 shots to Sassuolo's 19, and four on target to seven. Sassuolo were also flagged offside five times to Torino's twelve. It is a first win of the campaign for Sassuolo after losing 2-1 at Atalanta on the opening day; Torino, beaten 2-1 at home by Milan in round one, are still without a point.

Match facts

• 32' — Cristian Volpato (Sassuolo)
• 45+2' — Pietro Comuzzo (Torino)
• 78' — Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo)

Since that Mapei Stadium night

Sassuolo didn't kick on immediately from the Torino win. They drew 2-2 away at Bologna on matchday 3, then delivered their best result of the season so far, beating Juventus 3-2 at the Mapei Stadium on matchday 4. A 1-2 defeat away at Monza on matchday 5 took the shine off it, but the six points collected across the Torino and Juventus games are still the platform of an otherwise inconsistent start: two wins, a draw and two defeats from five, with as many goals scored as conceded.

Torino's response was quicker. Three days after losing at the Mapei Stadium, they won 2-1 away at Fiorentina on matchday 3 — their only win of the season so far — before two games without one: a 0-2 home defeat to Roma on matchday 4 and a 1-1 draw away at Bologna on matchday 5. One win, one draw and three defeats from five games has left them with just five goals in five matches, the same tally as Atalanta and Lecce, and a defence that has already conceded eight.

Where the table stands now

Five matchdays in, Sassuolo sit 10th on 7 points — two wins, a draw and two defeats, 9 goals scored and 9 conceded — level with Napoli and just three points off the Europa League place occupied by Lazio in 5th. Torino are 14th on 4 points, only two clear of the relegation zone that starts at 18th, level with four other clubs — Udinese, Parma, Monza and Fiorentina — with just goal difference separating them in a five-way pile-up above the drop.