Cagliari came back to winning ways after a five-match drought in the opener of this Serie A saturday, as they beat Sassuolo in what it was their first victory against the Neroverdi in over six years.
Starting XIs: Keita Starts, Berardi Left Out
Coach Walter Mazzarri pretty much confirmed the same eleven that almost held Juventus to a draw last week, with the only exceptions of Keita Balde, preferred over Leonardo Pavoletti upfront, and Alberto Grassi on the midfield, in support of Razvan Marin and Alessandro Deiola.
Sassuolo’s Alessio Dionisi had to leave Domenico Berardi out of the squad due to an ankle contusion, instead Gregoire Defrel took his spot alongside Giacomo Raspadori and Hamed Traoré.
Deiola Scores as VAR Denies Cagliari Second Goal
Cagliari made a strong start and created many goal scoring opportunities, however Sassuolo’s goalie Andrea Consigli saved multiple times the result.
On the 20-minute mark, a hard collision between Dalbert and Jeremy Toljan resulted in a dislocated shoulder for the Sassuolo right back, who had to leave the pitch early. His replacement Ruan got immediately booked by the referee due to a foul on Keita.
Cagliari kept pushing and almost found the back of the net with italian right-back Raoul Bellanova, who almost caused an own-goal by Sassuolo’s center back Gianmarco Ferrari. Sassuolo’s only chance came on the 35-minute mark, when a fast break made by Hamed Traoré was blocked by a great save of outrushing goalie Andrea Cragno, who saved the result with an header.
With only three minutes left on the clock, Alessandro Deiola broke the dreadlock: Marin put a sweet cross from the right, the ball passed through the Sassuolo defense and found Deiola free to get in and split open the scoring. After just two minutes, Cagliari doubled the lead with an imperious header from Joao Pedro, however the VAR recalled referee Massa and prompted him to disallow the goal.
Sassuolo’s Pressure Bears No Fruit
In the second half, Sassuolo came out more determined from the changing rooms, with the usual Traoré trying his best to equalize the result. However, the first clear occasion was for Cagliari, once again with an almost own-goal caused by Romanian defender Vlad Chiriches that engaged Sassuolo’s goalie Consigli.
Both Dionisi and Mazzarri made some substitutions later in the match, bringing in Rogerio and Emil Ceide for the Neroverdi and Leonardo Pavoletti, Marko Rog and Daniele Baselli for the Rossoblu.
Sassuolo never made themselves dangerous enough to scare Cagliari, who even had the opportunity to double again the lead with a deflected shot by Pereiro that ended up on the post. After six minutes of added time, Cagliari could finally celebrate their long awaited victory.
What’s Next for Cagliari and Sassuolo
Cagliari will travel to Genova next week to face Genoa, in a high-stake matchup for the relegation zone battle: the Casteddu are six points clear above third-last placed Genoa, and surely their encounter will play a big role in both teams’ fate. Sassuolo will host Juventus at home, with the Bianconeri looking to lock down their Champions League spot.
MATCH SCORECARD
April 16, 2022 – Serie A 2021-2022 Round 33
CAGLIARI – SASSUOLO 1-0
SCORERS: 42′ Deiola
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CAGLIARI (3-5-2): Cragno; Lovato, Altare, Carboni; Bellanova (87′ Zappa), Deiola (68′ Rog), Marin, Grassi (73′ Baselli), Dalbert; Keita Bade (68′ Pavoletti), Joao Pedro (87′ Pereiro) (Aresti, Radunovic, Obert, Walukiewicz, Lykogiannis, Ceter, Gagliano) Coach: Mazzarri |
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SASSUOLO (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Toljan (20′ Ruan), Chiriches, Ferrari, Kyriakopoulos (65′ Rogerio); Lopez, Frattesi (82′ Henrique); Defrel (65′ Ceide), Raspadori, Traorè; Scamacca (82′ Djuricic) (Pegolo, Satalino, Peluso, Magnanelli, Ciervo, Oddei) Coach: Dionisi |