Serie A – Cagliari vs Juventus: The Sardinians were desperate for a win heading into their home fixture against Juve on Saturday, to take them clear of the relegation battle. However, the visitors could not have afforded to drop points, with Roma breathing down their necks to take a UCL spot.
Joao Pedro gave the hosts an early lead and was looking to head into halftime with the lead. However, the Bianconeri equalised through De Ligt towards the end of the half.
The club chased for the winner for much of the 2nd half and were able to get it through Vlahovic in the 75th minute, sealing a 1-2 win in the process.
Serie A – Cagliari vs Juventus: Match Summary
Full-time score: Cagliari 1-2 Juventus
Cagliari
Lineup: Cragno; Altare, Lovato, Carboni; Bellanova, Deiola (79′ Baldé), Marin, Dalbert (58′ Rog), Lykogiannis (79′ Obert); Joao Pedro, Pavoletti (67′ Pereiro).
Subs Not Used: Aresti, Radunovic, Baselli, Zappa, Ceter, Walukiewicz.
Scorer: 10′ Joao Pedro.
Booking: 53′ Lykogiannis.
Juventus
Lineup: Szczesny; Danilo, De Ligt, Chiellini, Pellegrini; Cuadrado (85′ Bonucci), Zakaria, Arthur, Rabiot (68′ Bernardeschi); Dybala (80′ Kean), Vlahovic.
Subs Not Used: Perin, Pinsoglio, Alex Sandro, Rugani, Miretti.
Scorers: 45′ De Ligt, 75′ Vlahovic.
Post-match reactions
Juventus manager, Massimiliano Allegri: “Cagliari are a difficult team to beat at home, they have quality. Today’s victory is important in order to consolidate fourth place, losing would have alarmed us. The psychological backlash after Inter was not a small one, but the lads today were very good at not breaking down, conceding little and making sure they win deservedly. At the beginning we didn’t find the right measures, then the game went well and we grew.”
Cagliari manager, Walter Mazzarri: “Sometimes I don’t think I made a mistake on the pitch, I have a lot of experience, against the big teams we didn’t make the wrong game but against the less strong ones we did worse, why? After Turin I would have had to frighten them and take them to retreat, this is my regret. When you face champions like Dybala, players from the youth sector or who played at Olbia (Altare, ed) they have a hint of fear. Sassuolo are super big, we have to do well. Pavoletti and Marin came from Covid, Lovato before Udine was ill but today we saw the real Matteo. All in all, the boys are not afraid, we can do better, Bellanova, for example, did not have the strength to push.”
