Claudio Ranieri’s nightmare in Serie A ended on Sunday as his out-of-sorts Cagliari side pulled off a breathtaking comeback against fellow promoted rivals Frosinone. Despite trailing 3-0 going into the last 20 minutes of play, the Sardinians orchestrated a miracle to get into the win column for the first time this term.
With Cagliari seeking their first league victory upon their Serie A return and Frosinone looking to bounce back from a 2-1 loss to Bologna, the game was off to an exciting start. Both sides had several decent half-chances in the first 20 minutes but couldn’t capitalize.
Frosinone found a breakthrough midway through the first half as Juventus loanee Matias Soule maintained his eye-catching start to the season. Eusebio Di Francesco’s side forced a high turnover, with Reinier finding the prodigious winger inside the box. Soule calmly slotted the ball past Simone Scuffet.
Cagliari had an immediate chance to respond. Soule’s reckless handball inside the penalty area slipped referee Luca Pairetto’s eye at first look. But after reviewing the situation with VAR, he awarded a penalty, only for Marco Mancosu to hit the crossbar from the resulting spot-kick.
Frosinone made Cagliari pay dearly for the veteran’s miss as Soule embraced the spotlight again. Reinier played him into space again, but the youngster still had plenty to do. He sold a dummy to his marker before finishing off with aplomb to double the visitors’ lead on the stroke of halftime.
If things looked bad for Cagliari at the break, Marco Brescianini’s strike in the 49th minute made it almost impossible for Ranieri’s men to get back into this match. However, the hosts refused to give up. Gaetano Oristanio slammed home a terrific shot from outside the box in the 72nd minute. But even then, the game seemed to be a lost cause.
Antoine Makoumbou thought otherwise. He took advantage of Frosinone’s sloppy reaction at the back to reduce the deficit to a single goal going into the last quarter of the match. Pairetto gave Cagliari false hope in the 78th minute by giving them another penalty. Yet, he reversed his decision after checking the incident on the side-pitch monitor.
Though Cagliari had momentum on their side, Frosinone came close to putting the game to bed, not once but twice! Mehdi Bourabia found the net in the 83rd minute but was flagged offside. Walid Cheddira experienced the same fate in the second minute of stoppages.
Caligari, nonetheless, had little time to avoid defeat, let alone complete a turnaround. However, football is a funny business. Long-serving stalwart Leonardo Pavoletti leveled the score with a thumping header from near the penalty spot to send Unipol Domus into raptures.
With three minutes left on the clock, the share of the spoils looked inevitable. That’s when Pavoletti struck again! Alberto Dossena whipped the ball into the box, with the experienced striker turning it home from close range to inspire Cagliari to their first Serie A win of 2023/24.
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