Match report
Modena comes from behind to sink Empoli at Alberto Braglia
Modena overturned a first-half deficit to beat Empoli 2-1 in Serie B matchday five, moving into the top four with a display built on second-half urgency. The hosts trailed at the interval but responded emphatically after the break to claim all three points at Alberto Braglia.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Gerard Yepes put Empoli ahead in the 27th minute, finishing to send the visitors in front at half-time despite Modena's growing control of possession. The hosts drew level in the 61st minute when Andrea Belotti converted an assist from Daniel Tonoli, and nine minutes later Giuseppe Ambrosino turned the game on its head, scoring from a pass by Alessandro Bianco to make it 2-1.
Modena dominated territorially throughout, holding 60 per cent of possession and firing 22 shots to Empoli's nine, eight of them on target compared with the visitors' four. Andrea Calzavara issued two yellow cards to each side but no player was sent off as Modena held on to move to fourth in the table, while Empoli remain 12th.
Ambrosino scored the decisive second-half goal and earned the highest rating on the pitch at 8.2, with Belotti close behind after netting the equaliser.
Modena's dominance was reflected in a shot count of 22 to Empoli's nine, more than double their opponents' output.
Modena beat Empoli 2–1 (half-time 0–1).
Modena met Empoli in the Serie B (Regular Season - 5). Kick-off was Sunday, 20 September 2026, 17:30 UTC at Alberto Braglia. Referee: Andrea Calzavara.
Key moments
- 27' Goal: Gerard Yepes — 0–1
- 61' Goal: Andrea Belotti (assist: Daniel Tonoli) — 1–1
- 70' Goal: Giuseppe Ambrosino (assist: Alessandro Bianco) — 2–1
Starting line-ups
Modena (3-5-2)
Empoli (3-5-2)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Modena 41%, the draw 40%, Empoli 19%. It finished Modena 2–1 Empoli.
Level sides, Modena's control of the ball swings it — Nothing separates them on our strength rating, and Modena's control of the ball gives Modena the lean. The draw at 40% is helped by a draw-heavy league.
Why Modena in front?
Almost nothing between them on our strength rating — 1480 to 1453. Sides this close won 45.6% of 14,695 home games (draw 26.5%, visitors 27.9%). Modena hold 7 more possession points (51 to 44 in recent games) — and between equals, control has been worth something. Between evenly-matched sides, home teams with this control edge won 47.9% of 5,234 games, vs 43.9% when styles were level.
Why only 41%?
Because on our strength rating there is nothing in it. Serie B home sides under-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to draws (32.2% vs 24.9% norm) and away wins (26.1% vs 30.2%). Serie B homes won 41.7% of 4,058 games vs 44.9% across all 100,474 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Modena's column. Across 11,218 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.7% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.0 — negative in every season since 2018.
Why is the draw second, ahead of the Empoli win?
Between sides this level the draw starts at 26.5%. These teams' recent games average 2.1 goals — a low-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 28.1% of 18,230. Serie B runs draw-heavy, adding 7.3 points. The goals environment adds 4.4 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Modena are 5 games into a new manager (D. Galloppa), appointed 35 days ago. The famous new-manager bounce doesn't survive its receipt: sides with a new manager beat their rating by 0.9 points over 33,420 games — but sides on an equally bad run who kept their manager beat it by 2.4 over 31,777.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Modena vs Empoli final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Serie B fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Modena 2–1 Empoli. Explore more on the Modena and Empoli team pages or the Serie B page.
Quick answers
›What was the final score of Modena vs Empoli?
Modena beat Empoli 2–1 (half-time 0–1).
›Who scored in Modena vs Empoli?
Gerard Yepes (27') for Empoli; Andrea Belotti (61') for Modena; Giuseppe Ambrosino (70') for Modena.
›Where can I watch Modena vs Empoli highlights?
Goal highlights and video clips from Modena 2–1 Empoli are on this page — open the videos tab to watch every goal.
›What is the head-to-head record between Modena and Empoli?
Modena and Empoli have met 2 times — 1 win for Modena, 0 wins for Empoli and 1 draw.