Cagliari Beat Roma to Secure Vital Victory for Permanence in Serie A

Roma traveled to Sardinia on Sunday evening looking to keep track with the leading pack of Serie A, whilst Cagliari were looking for points to remain in the top flight.

Paulo Fonseca also had one eye on the Europa League Semi Final Thursday and rotated with this in mind.

Moving to a back three , Chris Smalling and Federico Fazio were included to start alongside Italian Gianluca Mancini. Fullbacks Rick Karsdorp and Davide Calafiori were swapped with Davide Santon and Bruno Peres. In midfield, Amadou Diawara came in alongside Villar and the final changes were in attack with Carles Pérez and Borja Mayoral replacing Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Edin Džeko.

? | STARTING XI

Scendiamo in campo così ??
Dai ragazzi, dai dai dai ?#CagliariRoma #forzaCasteddu pic.twitter.com/9O1dSIiGdA

— Cagliari Calcio (@CagliariCalcio) April 25, 2021

Cagliari came into the game on the back of two huge wins in their race to beat the drop. Coach Lenoardo Semplici made changes as Charalampos Lykogiannis replaced Ghanaian Kwadwo Asamoah and Giovanni Simeone replaced midfelder Radja Nainggolan. The Isolani went to three attackers to try and get the goals for this battling side.

Cagliari opened the scoring within the first five minutes with their first attack. João Pedro received the ball on the edge of the box and spread it wide right to Nahitan Nández and the Uruguayan dipped inside Diawara and rolled a ball across the face of the box. João Pedro had made a run to the near post and got a slight flick on the ball as it carried on into the path of Lykogiannis who tucked it home.

Roma equalized mid way through the first half through Carles Pérez. Lorenzo Pellegrini was found on the edge of the box and as he shaped to shoot spotted the run of the Spaniard and played a delightful pass through on the right for the winger. He took control of the ball and dribbled across the box thanks to a ricochet and slid the ball into an empty net.

Carles levels it up! ✌️
#ASRoma #CagliariRoma pic.twitter.com/NXnwyjKQVI

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) April 25, 2021

Both sides pressed to take the lead before half time but neither goal was breached as they went in level.

Cagliari came out with intent in the second half and retook the lead. Chris Smalling’s attempted long pass down the middle was blocked and fell to the feet of Leonardo Pavoletti who then in turn played in the onrushing midfielder. The Romanian took a touch before firing a long range strike past Pau López’s despairing dive to his right.

The Sardinians then went 3-1 up courtesy of a near post header from talisman João Pedro. An out swinging corner from the right from Razvan Marin was met by the Brazilian who got up and reached the cross flashing the ball into the near post.

Roma though found a lifeline through a corner of their own. An inswinging corner from the left by Perez found it’s way into the middle and Fazio climbed highest to direct a header into the ground and inside the far left hand post.

Hope was all it was as Cagliari held their nerve and defensive shape to shut out the Giallorossi and secure a vital three points moving them out of the drop zone.

Roma now prepare for their Semi Final encounter at Old Trafford before returning to domestic action away to Sampdoria. Cagliari next travel to Naples to face an inform Napoli as they continue their quest for safety.  

❤️? #forzaCasteddu pic.twitter.com/WfWtCrE23F

— Cagliari Calcio (@CagliariCalcio) April 25, 2021

 

MATCH REPORT

April 25, 2021 – Serie A 2020-21 Round 33
CAGLIARI-ROMA 3-2

SCORERS: 4′ Lykogiannis (C), 27′ Carles Perez (R), 57′ Marin (C), 64′ Joao Pedro (C), 69′ Fazio (R)

REFEREE: Mr. Irrati from Pistoia NOTES: Yellow Cards: Marin, Joao Pedro, Simeone, Duncan (C); Cristante (R); Extra Time: 1st Half 1′, 2nd Half 4′