Cagliari held firm against Inter but had to surrender: the match at the Domus ended 0-1
Çalhanoğlu's goal was decisive at the start, then the visitors had many chances but the rossoblù always remained in the game and came close to equalising
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Cagliari held firm against reigning champions Inter, who nevertheless lost 0-1 at the Domus: Çalhanoğlu scored the decisive goal in the 9th minute.
Pisacane, forced to withdraw Mina at the last minute due to a calf strain, returned to the same lineup as Parma . The former Barella player was immediately booed, but in the ninth minute he provided the assist for the visitors' immediate lead: from the right, he found Çalhanoğlu with twenty meters, and the Turk's low right-footed shot caught Caprile, who remained motionless , 0-1. Inter's number 20 had also opened the scoring in the opening minutes against Monza eight days ago.
Lautaro Martínez nearly doubled the lead in the 23rd minute: he received the ball from a pass from Esposito, controlled it, and unleashed a powerful right-footed shot that went just wide, with Caprile diving this time. Two minutes later, Dimarco's free kick saw Akanji rise high and head the ball just wide . On the ensuing move, Caprile denied Barella's right-footed shot from outside the area.
Inter again in the 28th minute, with a great cross from Barella that finds Dimarco free in the center of the area: his powerful right-footed shot is lifted over the crossbar by a decisive save from Caprile . From the corner, the ball is cleared but not definitively, a counter-cross and a scramble in the box that favors Çalhanoğlu again: this time his right-footed shot is more powerful and even high.
After the cooling-off period, between the 30th and 32nd minutes, play resumed, and in the 33rd minute, Barella—a long run down the right— anticipated Caprile, who had come out empty-handed on the edge of the area, but Rodríguez made a providential recovery to prevent the former player from scoring, clearing the ball off the line . Two more minutes passed, and Sučić won the ball back from Fazzini and played it to Lautaro Martínez from the right; Deiola was decisive in blocking his shot, which was destined for the net. The Inter captain found Luis Henrique in the box in the 41st minute, but the Brazilian's right-footed strike went over. Before two minutes of injury time, in the 44th minute, Esposito back-heeled Dimarco, who fired wide. And in the 94th minute, at the start of injury time, Caprile denied him the second goal.
The second half was played without changes, after the stats at halftime showed 0-15 shots. Cagliari's first was a free kick from about twenty meters by Maldini in the 49th minute, which the wall deflected over the crossbar. Barella was unleashed, and in the 53rd minute he made a daring run down the right and found Esposito in the box, completely alone, who controlled and fired a phenomenal shot with Caprile .
Pisacane wasn't happy with his team, and in the 57th minute he made a triple substitution: Fadera and Kevin Carlos made their Cagliari debuts, replacing Fazzini and Mendy. Kofler also came on for Winks, with Deiola moving up to midfield. The two debutants had a good chance in the 61st minute: Fadera (following a great recovery by Rodríguez) advanced and curled a shot, but Martínez dived to prevent Kevin Carlos from tapping in . Two minutes later, Adopo played a nice through ball to Kevin Carlos, but Martínez did well to anticipate him by sliding out.
Chivu saw that Inter, after an hour of excellent football, had shown some signs of slumping and made a triple substitution of his own: Zieliński for goal-scorer Çalhanoğlu, Thuram for Esposito, and debutant Jones for Sučić in the 65th minute. A minute later, Dimarco, this time moving to the right, played Lautaro Martínez into the center for a shot wide . In the 68th minute, Stones came on for the booked Akanji.
To begin the final quarter of an hour, Zieliński played a great ball into the box to Dimarco, who then passed it to the center for Bastoni, but Luis Henrique couldn't reach his left-footed shot for the tap-in. At the other end, Fadera curled a right-footed shot over. Thuram, in the 78th minute, fed by Lautaro Martínez in the box, anticipated Caprile's arrival, but his header went over . Before the goal kick, Borrelli played in for Maldini, then in the 79th minute, Thuram again fired a shot wide from Dimarco.
Obert made a fine run into the box in the 80th minute, firing a left-footed shot over. Immediately afterward, Chivu replaced Luis Henrique with Bisseck. Cagliari's big chance came in the 84th minute, when Adopo fired from a melee in the box, but substitute Bisseck made a providential save . In the 86th minute, Zieliński played a great through ball to Lautaro Martínez, who was held on by Rodríguez, and Caprile found another excellent shot on his left foot. In the third of five minutes of added time, Kevin Carlos's header went wide.