Sassuolo beat Fiorentina to better survival chances

Rome, May 7 (IANS) Thanks to Domenico Berardi's hat-trick, Sassuolo notched up an important 4-3 win at Fiorentina to boost their Serie A survival hopes.

Berardi was unstoppable in the first half and opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute Tuesday. Eleven minutes later, he added his second. The 19-year-old completed his hat-trick three minutes before the interval, reports Xinhua.

Fiorentina staged a fightback after the break signalled by Gonzalo Rodriguez's goal from the penalty spot (57th minute) but Nicola Sansone resumed Sassuolo's three-goal lead with a goal shortly after.

Giuseppe Rossi came on as a substitute to score and Juan Guillermo Cuadrado pulled Fiorentina back to 3-4 just 15 minutes from the end. But the hosts just stopped there and could not find the equaliser.

With the win, Sassuolo moved out of the relegation zone and into 16th place, two points clear of danger with two games remaining while Fiorentina are fourth in the standings, four points above Inter Milan.