Cagliari and Parma met at the Sardegna Arena on Saturday in a Serie A relegation six-pointer and threw a seven-goal spectacle. In a game jammed-full of twists and turns, the home team kept their cool in a dramatic finish to pick up a vital 4-3 victory.
Parma took the lead five minutes into the game, with Giuseppe Pezzella hammering home a half-volley from the edge of the box to break the deadlock. Juraj Kucka doubled the visitors’ lead just after the hour mark after Andreas Cornelius’ delightful layoff, putting clear daylight between the sides.
Though it seemed Parma could be on their way to recording only their fourth Serie A win of the season, the hosts managed to pull one back before the break. Leonardo Pavoletti raised above his marker to meet Andrea Carboni’s pinpoint cross and bring Cagliari back into the match in the 39th minute.
The Sardinians were off to a flying start to the second half, but it was Parma to put the third on the board. Dennis Man unleashed a low-driven effort towards Guglielmo Vicario’s bottom-left corner to restore a two-goal cushion just before the 60-minute mark.
Cagliari never gave up as Razvan Marin latched on to a rebound only six minutes after Parma’s third to kick-start what was a remarkable turnaround. Leonardo Semplici’s men continued to keep the Crusaders pretty much inside their 18-yard box but failed to capitalize on their initiative.
Things could have been different if it wasn’t for Jasmin Kurtic’s wayward finish in the 72nd minute. The Slovenia international was left unmarked inside the six-yard box after a corner but skied his effort over the bar from point-blank range.
Pavoletti came close to leveling the score in the 81st minute but misplaced a free header. However, Cagliari found their third on the stroke of 90 minutes as Gaston Pereiro’s curling effort from outside the box rounded past Luigi Sepe.
Late substitute Alberto Cerri completed the comeback, powering his header home following Pereiro’s chip into the box a minute before the final whistle.
The victory sees Cagliari reduce the gap on 17th-placed Torino to two points, but the Granata have two games in hand on the Sardinian side. Meanwhile, Parma now look like a doomed outfit, trailing the Turin strugglers by seven points despite playing two more matches.