Roma beat Sassuolo 1-0

After losing Paulo Dybala, Chris Smalling, and Rasmus Kristensen in Thursday's easy loss at Brighton, Tammy Abraham was sitting on the bench for the first time since June's knee surgery. Romelu Lukaku, at least, overcame a recurrent hip inflammation to take a more advanced position to begin with. On the first game under new coach Davide Ballardini, Sassuolo shocked Frosinone; nevertheless, Domenico Berardi's season-long injury to his Achilles tendon forced him to miss time, while Josh Doig and Kristian Thorstvedt were suspended.

Lukaku missed an early opportunity when he nodded Leonardo Spinazzola's cross beyond, but he struggled to generate opportunities against a Sassuolo team who had ten players behind the ball. After just 36 minutes, Spinazzola hobbled out due to a muscle ailment, giving way for Angelino. Stephan El Shaarawy repeatedly transformed into a left-back by making defensive blocks on Pedersen.