Cagliari wins their first Gigi Riva trophy: Adopo's brilliant goal defeats Saint-Étienne
The midfielder's feat decides the friendly, on a day of great emotions in memory of the Myth
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Cagliari wins the inaugural Gigi Riva Trophy. At the end of a thrilling day in memory of their legend, the Rossoblu beat Saint-Étienne 1-0 in a friendly. Before the match, after the show, the tributes to Gattuso and Buffon were shared .
Adopo's first chance in a melee came in the 5th minute, but his attempt was blocked. In the 10th minute, again from a corner, Lamba headed in and was blocked by Caprile. Saint-Étienne made an immediate substitution, with Bernauer in the 12th minute suffering an injury (right thigh) and Nade coming on for him. Immediately after the substitution, play stopped for a minute, with the entire stadium (players included) applauding the Legend while the Curva Nord chanted "There's only one Gigi Riva."
Cagliari took the lead in the 20th minute: Deiola crossed from the right but couldn't reach it; the rebound hit Nadé, sending the ball just outside the box, where Adopo—with plenty of space at his disposal—placed a soft left-footed shot into the top corner . A splendid goal from the midfielder, who had already scored against Galatasaray ten days ago. The French responded in the 26th minute, with a corner to the far post, and Boakye volleyed wide.
Piccoli nearly doubled the lead in the 35th minute, launching himself deep down the center-right and firing toward the near post, but Larsonneur saved. The same center-forward was down in the 41st minute after a fortuitous challenge, touching the back of his back. When play resumed, Caprile denied Cardona's right-footed effort. Cagliari responded almost immediately: Luvumbo found Deiola, whose right-footed effort was lifted for a corner. The half-time break was interrupted, with a DJ set celebrating Radiolina's 50th anniversary at half-time, ending with Tazenda's "Domo mea."
The second half resumed without any changes, with Duffus escaping Mina on the left in the 50th minute and firing into the side-netting. Luvumbo was down in the 57th minute, having been tackled hard on the left ankle by Traoré. From a corner in the 61st minute, Deiola flicked the ball on, and Nadé almost scored an own goal when Larsonneur flicked the ball over the crossbar .
Three substitutions for Saint-Étienne in the 64th minute: Moueffek, Duffus, and Cardona were replaced by Miladinović, El Jamali, and Old. The latter, three minutes later, headed a corner from the right over. Then came the first substitutions for Cagliari, with Vinciguerra, Pintus, and a much-applauded Borrelli replacing Luvumbo, Mina, and Felici (70') . Luperto tested Larsonneur with a header in the 77th minute, with a curling free kick.
Cagliari made three more substitutions for the final ten minutes: Prati, Obert, and Deiola went off, while Rog, Idrissi, and Liteta came on. Rog, with a good move, earned Jaber a yellow card. Di Pardo was replaced by Zappa, making the final substitution before the final whistle, with Cagliari lifting the trophy created for the occasion : a sculpture in Orosei marble created by Fernando Mussone, presented to Pavoletti by Nicola Riva, Brugnera, Reginato, and Tomasini.
