Nightmare afternoon for Cagliari: they lost 3-1 to bottom-placed Pisa
Pavoletti's goal wasn't enough, the rossoblù conceded a brace from Caracciolo in numerical superiority and Obert was also sent off towards the endPer restare aggiornato entra nel nostro canale Whatsapp
Cagliari's worst performance of the season yielded their second Serie A victory to Pisa, who beat the Rossoblu 3-1. The Tuscans, bottom of the table, scored twice with a man down, Pavoletti's first goal was in vain, and Obert was also sent off in the closing stages.
Cagliari features Gianluca Gaetano and Yerry Mina in Fabio Pisacane's 3-5-1-1 formation . Pisa had the early game, with the first chance in the 5th minute when Durosinmi headed over from an Angori cross. Two minutes later, a cross from the left was blocked by Calabresi, who was tackled by Sulemana just inside the box. La Penna initially indicated a free kick, then corrected himself and awarded a penalty because the foul was on the line.
Moreo took the penalty, with Caprile diving to the other side and Pisa was ahead in the 9th minute . Cagliari responded immediately, with Palestra crossing from the right in the 11th minute, and winger Obert's header hit the crossbar. Sulemana responded to the rebound, but his header went high. The Rossoblu were back in the 18th minute, with Folorunsho found in the penalty area, whose right-footed effort was deflected by former player Calabresi into a corner.
Folorunsho, who had returned from an injury sustained in the first leg (Cagliari-Pisa 2-2 on December 21), stopped just before the half-hour mark and asked to be substituted due to a new injury. Pavoletti, ready to come on, was sent back to the bench when everything was already decided on the substitution, with Folorunsho ultimately holding out. And in the 37th minute, Cagliari remained in numerical superiority, because Durosinmi, with the ball far away, kicked Mina, and La Penna saw it and showed him a straight red card .
Cagliari's first chance with the extra man came in the 43rd minute, when Gaetano's right-footed shot from twenty meters found a deflection that sent the ball out for a corner. The ball was short, and Gaetano's cross was laid off by Mina to the anticipated Zé Pedro, but the ball was then found on the edge of the box by Obert, who fired a fine low left-footed shot that was then saved again by a diving Nicolas .
There were six minutes of added time. There were numerous interruptions, with another Pisa injury: Calabresi, who was injured in the 45th minute and tried to hold out until halftime. In the 51st minute, Caprile prevented a 2-0 lead from a shot by Højholt, assisted by Moreo .
The second half saw Pavoletti come on not for Folorunsho but for Adopo, while Zappa also came on for Mina, again for Cagliari, and Albiol for the injured Calabresi, who was playing for Pisa. Zé Pedro was immediately booked for a foul on Moreo: a sign that something wasn't working for the Rossoblu, who were clearly struggling. And in the 52nd minute, they conceded a second goal, with a throw-in in the box misdirected by Folorunsho, which Caracciolo converted to make it 2-0 with a turn at the near post.
Two minutes later, Angori and Moreo exchanged a brilliant pass, with the former's shot deflected into a corner by Obert's decisive tackle. But Albiol's pass to the near post found Caracciolo again, half a meter from goal. The Tempio-born defender only needed to tap the ball in for his first brace . Cagliari were in dire straits, conceding two goals from set pieces in the space of two minutes (52' and 54') while playing with a man advantage.
In the 58th minute, just before coming off, Kılıçsoy tested Nicolas with a right-footed shot from outside the area that was divingly saved by the goalkeeper, who then kept out Obert's shot. The Turk was replaced by Trepy in the 64th minute, while Gaetano (returning) came off and Mazzitelli came on . In the Rossoblu penalty area, in the 65th minute, Zé Pedro stopped Aebischer after being passed by Moreo.
Cagliari attempted to get back into the game in the 67th minute: a header from Dossena to play the ball back into the box found Pavoletti in a safe position, who played a good block to Albiol and then fired a right-footed shot past Nicolas to make it 3-1 . It was the Livorno striker's first goal, scoring against arch-rivals Pisa and celebrating by showing the home crowd the "L." The Rossoblu captain, again in the 70th minute, played Sulemana backwards for a shot that was met by Trepy; his left-footed effort went wide, but was likely offside.
A corner from Obert in the 74th minute found Dossena in the box, but Nicolas' header went just wide to the left. For the final quarter of an hour, Agustín Albarracín, the young striker signed in January from Uruguay, made his debut, replacing Zé Pedro. After the restart, a clearance from Nicolas led to Moreo controlling just beyond midfield and attempting a shot on goal, but it went wide. Cagliari's nightmare afternoon continued in the 81st minute, when Obert (already booked for simulation on the hour mark) stopped Léris on the right: a second yellow card and the men were back to level, albeit ten against ten .
Without their extra man, Cagliari had little else to contribute to a poor match. Indeed, in the 90th minute, Caprile prevented a fourth from Moreo's shot after being passed by Angori . The match ended after five minutes of injury time.
