Cagliari's first competitive goal of the 2026-2027 season came from new captain Alessandro Deiola, who went into halftime with a 1-0 lead in the Coppa Italia round of 32 against Arezzo. He scored from the penalty spot, but on his second attempt.
Daniel Maldini was out from the start, so Pisacane brought on the Adopo-Trepy duo to support Paul Mendy . And it was Adopo who had the first shot of the match, in the 10th minute, but it went over. Meanwhile, in the 12th minute, Caprile was tested by a left-footed shot from a tight angle (but still inside the six-yard box) from former Budoni, Lanusei, San Teodoro, and Torres player Varela, who was playing in place of Cerri, who—despite being called up—was not even on the bench.
A mistake on the clearance by goalkeeper Nunziante, who passes it to his teammate Gilli, gives Cagliari the chance to take the lead: Mendy recovers on the left, shoots, and hits the post. The move continues, Fazzini plays it to Deiola at the edge of the area, and the new captain also hits the woodwork, with a right-footed shot to the same spot as his teammate .
After a foul by Righetti (who was also booked), Cagliari won a free kick, taken at the far post, and Renzi held Deiola, who fell: penalty. The captain himself took the kick, but Nunziante saw the shot on his right and saved it. However, Gilli, who had entered the box before the shot, picked up the rebound: VAR directed referee Calzavara to the monitor and repeated the same action . Deiola kicked into the same corner and this time scored, 1-0 in the 23rd minute.
The intense heat created difficulties for both teams , with Cagliari threatening in the 34th minute with a cross from Obert and a header from Mendy that went just over. Trepy, in the 41st minute, saw his shot from the edge of the area blocked by the Tuscan defense. The half-time break followed by four minutes of added time.
