A bad night for a patched-up Cagliari: Lecce wins 0-2 at the Domus
In a critical situation with many absentees, the Rossoblù lose the relegation battle: Gandelman and Ramadani score.Per restare aggiornato entra nel nostro canale Whatsapp
In the emergency situation with many unavailable and just as many injured players, Cagliari was defeated 0-2 by Lecce in the late match of the twenty-fifth matchday of Serie A. At the Unipol Domus, Gandelman and Ramadani were the deciding goals.
Cagliari lined up in a 3-4-3 formation: Mina in the center with Zé Pedro and Obert as center-backs, Palestra and Esposito flanking Pavoletti . The first quarter of an hour didn't have any particular upheavals: the only one came from the rossoblù captain himself, in the 12th minute, when he beat Cheddira to a header and sent a corner from the left taken into the center of the area.
Two tackles, a head-to-head between Sottil and Sulemana in the 19th minute and one involving Esposito in the 26th minute, disrupted the play in the middle of the game, which was devoid of any excitement. Lecce had one—a big one—in the 28th minute: after a mistake by Esposito coming out, Ramadani recovered and played a pass from the right to Gandelman in the center of the area. His dribbling assisted the former player, Sottil, who controlled the ball but missed the shot with his left foot (over) .
On the half-hour mark, a pass to Cheddira set up the ball. The former Bari player entered the box and tried to free himself for a shot. He managed to find Gandelman, who was blocked by Obert as he attempted to shoot, and then Zé Pedro blocked Pierotti's rebound. After a long period of Lecce possession, Cagliari came back in the 37th minute. Obert crossed from the left for Pavoletti, who controlled it and fired it in, but Gaspar blocked it. A minute later, Zappa had a much better chance: he found a loose ball in the center of the box after Palestra's cross was parried by Veiga, and his right-footed volley went over . It was a good opportunity.
Zappa was back again in the 40th minute: he controlled the ball near the penalty area, and after a cross for Pavoletti, he beat Tiago Gabriel, and his shot was deflected out for a corner. Two minutes later, Zappa again crossed from the right, this time heading to Sulemana, who headed the ball just wide . The half-time break followed a minute of injury time following contact between Coulibaly and Zappa, which was deemed regular by referee Feliciani ( referee Gianluca Rocchi was in the stands, following Saturday's controversy over Inter-Juventus ).
The second half was played without any changes. But, after eleven less-than-spectacular minutes, Pisacane brought on Kılıçsoy (weakened by a gastrointestinal virus over the weekend) for Pavoletti and Mazzitelli for Zappa. Cagliari switched to a 3-5-2 formation, Mina becoming captain, but Lecce came close to scoring on the following move: Caprile's free kick came off the line, the rebound fell to Coulibaly, and a cross from the byline for Cheddira's header, which was cleared off the line by the Rossoblu goalkeeper .
The game-breaking goal came in the 65th minute. Sottil's free kick from the right left the Cagliari defense held firm, Caprile came out and Gandelman beat him with a powerful header in the six-yard box . It was the second consecutive goal for the Israeli, who arrived in the January transfer window and had already scored eight days earlier for Udinese.
Cagliari came back in the 71st minute, with Esposito's corner extended to the far post, where Obert headed the ball in but missed the target. But in the 76th minute, Lecce doubled their lead: Coulibaly dispossessed Sulemana on the left, and from the edge of the box, Ramadani unleashed a right-footed shot to the near post, surprising Caprile to make it 2-0 . There was a lengthy check for possible offside early in the move, but it was all good.
After the goal, Pisacane substituted Trepy for Obert, going for broke. A minute later, Di Francesco replaced Sottil and Cheddira with Ndaba and Štulić. In the 83rd minute, following an Esposito corner, Sulemana's header beat Falcone to the ball but it missed the target. A minute later, in a move similar to the one that scored in Cremona, Trepy controlled the ball in the box, but Ndaba blocked it for a corner . The 2006-born player had a big chance in the 86th minute: following an Esposito corner, he was found all alone at the far post, but incredibly missed the target with his left foot.
Lecce came on in the 86th minute with Siebert and Ngom replacing Pierotti and Gandelman, who scored the opener. A minute and a half into injury time, Sulemana tried with a right-footed shot from outside the box; Falcone stood still, watching, but the ball missed the target . In injury time, which stretched to six minutes, Lecce managed their two-goal lead and took home the win.
