One goal and Cagliari are in the round of 32 of the Coppa Italia: in their seasonal debut at the Domus, they beat Arezzo, newly promoted to Serie B, 1-0. Captain Deiola scored from the penalty spot.

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 a 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 . It happens just before the quarter-hour mark.

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, and Nunziante saw the shot to his right and parried it. But 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 .

The second half resumed with Borrelli replacing Mendy. After eighty seconds, Trepy nearly made it 2-0, capitalizing on a lapse in Arezzo's defense, but his lob was weak and missed the target . Borrelli came close to scoring in the 51st minute, but his low right-footed shot went just wide. Immediately afterward, Arezzo's Gilli was forced off injured (Coppolaro came on).

A standing ovation from the 8,730 at the Domus welcomed Maldini's entrance onto the pitch and his debut in the 54th minute, replacing Trepy . Kofler (another debutant) also came on for Deiola. Former Torres player Sala had a good chance to fire in the 62nd minute, but Caprile tipped the ball out for a corner. The ball was not cleared on the kick, and Sala himself fell to the ground after being tackled by Zé Pedro. The referee initially awarded a penalty, but VAR ruled it out because Obert had touched the ball.

When play resumed, Maldini booked Iaccarino, then brought on Felici (67') for Fazzini. Cagliari had a scare in the 75th minute when Varela ran with the ball and his shot was deflected, nearly hitting the crossbar : it was a corner, but it didn't work. Pisacane completed the substitutions in the 81st minute, with Prati replacing Winks.

Four and a half minutes into the 90th minute, Maldini was sent down the left and entered the box, but his shot with his right foot was imprecise: the ball went high and a wasted opportunity. Felici, however, saw his shot saved in two stages by Nunziante in the 89th minute. The injury time was quite long, seven minutes.

In the 97th minute, Pisacane was sent off for protesting after a harsh challenge on Maldini that wasn't called. Cagliari, however, took home the victory: the round of 32 will face either Verona or Virtus Entella, with the match on Sunday at 8:45 PM .

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