Complex sentence: Sassuolo had a surprising start to the 2008--09 campaign and held a promotion playoff place for very long time, though they earn only two points in their last five matches to eventually finish in seventh place.
Split into simpler sentences: Sassuolo had a surprisingly good start to the 2008--09 campaign and held a promotion playoff place for very long time. They only won two points in their last five matches to eventually finish in seventh place.