Second-half goals from Buksa and Gueye punished Cagliari, who lost 0-2 to Udinese and must postpone their relegation battle (until tomorrow, unless Cremonese beats Pisa). The Rossoblu performed poorly in the second half.
A last-minute change to Cagliari's starting eleven: a warm-up injury (a calf strain) sidelined Yerry Mina, replaced by Juan Rodríguez . The Colombian was eventually benched. Cagliari made their first real dangerous move: in the 9th minute, Esposito sent Palestra flying down the right, but the number 2's cross-field shot was parried by Okoye. In the 18th minute, Piotrowski won a rebound and his right-footed shot was deflected into a corner by Obert.
Folorunsho attempted several shots from outside the box, and in the 23rd minute, his powerful shot went over the crossbar. A minute later, a large portion of the stadium cheered after Esposito's shot, well-placed by Mendy, but the striker's 20-yard effort went behind the net, giving only the illusion of a goal . Esposito again, in the 27th minute, crossed for Folorunsho, whose header went wide.
Udinese's defense suffered a scare in the 29th minute, when a series of rebounds (following a corner by Folorunsho) left the ball in the six-yard box, but it couldn't find its way into the net. But on the half-hour mark, Ehizibue almost scored an own goal: he beat Folorunsho to an Esposito cross but headed it toward goal. Okoye was on the spot, but the ball went just wide. The Udinese goalkeeper then produced a miracle in the 31st minute, managing to block a shot from Gaetano, who was freed on the left following a one-two with Esposito .
Cagliari's pressure would have led to a penalty in the 32nd minute, for Karlström's handball on Adopo's attempt following a corner. But referee Dionisi, called to the monitor, disallowed it because—after consulting the images shown to VAR—he deemed the arm to be in a natural position . When play resumed, Adopo played Mendy into the box for a right-footed shot that went wide.
Udinese came back in the 37th minute, with a beautiful right-footed shot from outside the box by Piotrowski that Caprile dived to save. In the first minute of injury time, they played to free Gaetano in the center of the box, but his left-footed effort was blocked by Karlström . Halftime was called after three minutes of injury time, awarded both due to VAR review on the revoked penalty and a clash between Mendy and Kristensen (head-to-head, but they recovered).
After halftime, the pitch returned to the same twenty-two players who had started the match. In the 49th minute, a low cross from the right led to Esposito's tap-in. It would have been a goal, but Mlačić made a providential save to prevent Cagliari from taking the lead : the Udinese defender hit the post after the save, forcing the referee to stop play while the ball was dealt with.
A golden opportunity for both sides, with Zaniolo advancing to the edge of the box in the 52nd minute and hitting the post with a low left-footed shot . The referee ruled it a deflection, possibly by Rodríguez, and the game restarted with a corner, where Solet headed the ball in and Caprile saved. Mlačić, still in pain from the post, was unable to continue in the 54th minute and was replaced by Bertola, with the Bianconeri also substituting Piotrowski for Miller.
The score broke in the 56th minute: a pass behind Palestra found Kamara, who timed his run, a low cross, and Buksa deflected it into the net in the six-yard box . The assister's position was correct, and the goal was confirmed. Pisacane responded in the 61st minute with two substitutions, but they weren't offensive: the booked Zé Pedro was replaced, and—surprisingly—Palestra replaced Zappa and Sulemana. Sulemana himself found Esposito on the right in the 64th minute, but his shot went wide.
Buksa's match, which led to the 0-1, ended in the 65th minute with the introduction of Davis, who wasn't at his best and had initially remained on the bench. After Esposito's poorly-kicked free kick hit the wall (72nd minute), Pisacane brought on Albarracín for Folorunsho. But Cagliari was unlucky in the 74th minute, with Udinese's second clear on the line, this time by Karlström on a Dossena header .
Zaniolo, after an altercation with Dossena, made way for Gueye in the 78th minute: deafening boos from the Domus crowd, who hadn't forgotten his celebration last season in Cagliari-Atalanta. Arizala also came on for the booked Ehizibue. When play resumed, Mendy was found in the box, the Senegalese turned well and fired twice, only to be blocked by Mendy and then Karlström, who once again prevented the Rossoblu from drawing level .
Albarracín had a great chance in the 84th minute, crossing to the far post and controlling it alone (albeit from a tight angle) in front of Okoye. Instead of shooting, he looked for a teammate in the middle who wasn't there, and the move fizzled out. In the ensuing move, a mistake by Gaetano freed Miller, who sent Davis through on goal on the left. He had plenty of time to shoot, but Caprile did a great job closing down the goal and preventing the 0-2 .
For the final push, Trepy and Belotti came on from the 88th minute for Obert and Adopo. But it was still Udinese, with Atta freeing himself in the Cagliari area for a left-footed shot over (90'). At the start of five minutes of injury time, Trepy entered the area from the right, his left foot weak, and Okoye had no trouble saving it. Play was then interrupted by the referee for a couple of minutes, during which there was an on-field argument between Dossena and Davis (initially, then several other players joined in), which was only barely quelled by referee Dionisi . And when play resumed, Davis himself missed the 0-2 by shooting at Caprile.
In the 96th minute, however, with Cagliari's defense wide open, Udinese doubled their lead: Davis crossed again from the left, and Gueye had no problem tapping the ball into the net . Then a brawl almost broke out again, following the Friulians' celebration. But the match was over. At the end of the match, there were some tense moments, with Davis charging at Dossena for an alleged racist insult, and the two were barely separated. A brawl almost broke out , with players and staff members on the pitch trying to stop the two ( WHAT HAPPENED ).
