Cagliari returned from the Christmas break with a vengeance as they delivered a 3-0 thrashing upon visiting Genoa at Stadio Sant’Elia in match-day seventeen of Serie A. With the result the Sardinians move level with Genoa in a four-way tie at ninth spot of the tightly compacted table.

Quick to the whistle, Cagliari quickly laid siege upon Genoa ‘keeper Sébastien Frey with Joaquín Larrivey unable to convert from cannot miss territory. However the twenty-seven year old former Huracán man made no mistake from the spot at the twelfth minute after Genoa was adjudged a penalty for Andrea Cossu being brought down in the area. Traffic was one-way but thanks to resourceful defending and stalwart work between the posts by Sébastien Frey, Cagliari had to be satisfied with the one goal advantage at the break.

After the break Genoa came out with a renewed vigour but four minutes shy of the half-hour the margin was doubled as via Andrea Cossu’s clever provision saw Víctor Ibarbo race the final third of the pitch, fighting off Chilean international Felipe Seymour before deftly chipping the ball past the outstretched ‘keeper from seven metres. The contest was ostensibly fait accompli ten minutes later as Emiliano Moretti was sent off with his second yellow-card, forcing Genoa to play with the personnel disadvantage. If there was a faint glimmer of hope for Genoa that was put to rest with eighteen minutes as Alessandro Agostini cross from near the left by-line was sent into his own goal by Andreas Granqvist. Cagliari continued to dominate for the balance of the proceedings and though they were unable to build upon the lead with the final whistle manager Davide Ballardini could celebrate a 3-0 victory against the side that terminated him in June of last year.

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Under the radiant skies of Sardinia, Cagliari continued its impressive charge with a nil draw with Napoli at Stadio Sant’Elia in week seven of Serie A. With the result the Sardinians sit fourth in the table, three points off leaders Udinese.

Coming off last weeks draw with Siena, Cagliari manager Massimo Ficcadenti made one change to his starting eleven with Nenê entering for Joaquín Larrivey. The hosts narrowly missed taking the lead in the early stages as Nenê was gifted the ball deep in the Napoli end before moving the left side of the area but his final effort was denied by goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis. The Sardinians continued to impress with Nenê’s looping header of Andrea Cossu’s left win cross bouncing off the cross bar. Just past the half-hour Napoli’s Mario Santana point blank range effort rasped off the left goalpost as Cagliari breathed a sigh of relief. The hosts once again from the woodwork their nemesis as Radja Nainggolan’s volley from the edge of the area slammed off the bar before being cleared to safety.

After the break chances proved sparse though Nenê carved out space on the left edge of the area but his effort was blocked with goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis acting quickly to smother the ball away from onrushing Davide Biondini. Timely defending kept Napoli level with Thiago Ribeiro seeing two efforts from seven metres on the right blocked before Cagliari ‘keeper Michael Agazzi showed in-from skills on the opposite end of the pitch. The Sardinian’s continued to press for the winning strike but after a late chance from Nenê came up for naught the match concluded as a nil draw.

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Cagliari maintained pace in the pressure cooker Serie A race as they played Sienna to a nil draw at Stadio Sant’Elia in match-day six. With the result the Rossoblu sit third in the table, a scant point behind co-leaders Juventus and Udinese.

In a entertaining contest far from what the score suggests, after Franco Brienza forced an early top-shelf save from Cagliari goalkeeper Michael Agazzi the hosts began to dictate the proceedings. In rapid-fire fashion the Sardinians pressed forward with Alessandro Agostini surging off the left to fight his way into the box before firing a booming drive that Sienna ‘keeper Željko Brkić pawed to safety. With the Rossoblu’s always faithful supporters urging their side on Alessandro Agostini narrowly missed breaking the deadlock shortly thereafter with clever volley from a ten metres via a long right wing cross. After the flurry of activity both sides bunkered down with nary a notable scoring chance through to the break.

The opening stages at the re-start saw little change with Cagliari manager Massimo Ficcadenti summoning Nenê for Joaquín Larrivey at the fifty-seventh minute, to be followed with the intensely promising twenty-one year-old Víctor Ibarbo for Andrea Cossu moments later. The hosts continued to be the more likely of the two to break the deadlock with Daniele Conti flashing a testing drive from outside the area that Sienna goalkeeper Željko Brkić smothered. With just under twenty minutes remaining in regulation time to Thiago Ribeiro delivered a high arcing corner from the right that Nenê headed toward the top corner but Željko Brkić stretched out fully to deny the seemingly goal bound effort. After surviving a late scare from the visitors when Mattia Destro surged inside the area to the right before firing wide of the right post, Victor Ibarbo showed a flash of brilliance. Surging down the right he cut back at the by-line but his shot could not find the mark and without further incident the match concluded as a nil draw.

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In another chapter of Cagliari’s remarkable start to the Serie A campaign, the Rossoblu returned from Lecce on the backs of an opportunistic 2-0 victory at Stadio Via del Mare. With the result the Sardinians are in a three-way tie for second-place with Napoli and Palermo, a scant point behind leader Udinese.

Coming off the nil draw with Udinese, Rossoblu manager Massimo Ficcadenti made a single change to his starting eleven with Joaquín Larrivey entering for Nenê. In the first notable advance of the day Andrea Cossu’s cross from the left intended for Thiago Ribeiro, saw Davide Brivio have position on the striker but the ball inadvertently skipped off his foot and past goalkeeper Júlio Sérgio. Lecce responded quickly but found out Rossoblu ‘keeper Michael Agazzi was up for the challenge as he smothered a tantilizing through ball intended for David Di Michele. Lecce had a further chance to level when Ignacio Piatti was teed up in close range but quick thinking defending saw the ball cleared to safety. Chances slowly moved to the lower probability kind or from set pieces until six minutes shy of the break when Alessandro Agostini’s cross from the left was flicked on by Thiago Ribeiro to Davide Biondini who cut underneath to poke the ball into the net from eight metres.

After the break Christian Pasquato, who had entered for Ignacio Piatti at the re-start, delivered a menacing free-kick but as is in the opening half Rossoblu ‘keeper Michael Agazzi supplied a brilliant stop. Cristian Pasquato continued to be the centre of the Lecce effort as his sumptuous cross from the left was just beyond the reach of David Di Michele and skipped to safety. For large stretches of remaining time the match was a box-to-box affair with Cagliari killing off the host’s advances to perfection. Following a late miss by David Di Michele with an open goal beckoning the final whistle sounded with Cagliari laying claim to the full three points via the 2-0 result.

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In an tactically brilliant encounter defiant of its score-line, Cagliari played Udinese to nil draw at Stadio Sant’Elia in front of their Sardinian faithful in match-day four of Serie A. With the result the Rossoblu are scant point off the top of the table, held jointly by Juventus and Udinese.

Coming off their stumble against Palermo, Cagliari manager Massimo Ficcadenti made no changes to his starting eleven with Daniele Conti adding his name to Sardinian’s record books with his 328^th appearance. True to form the early stages were well disciplined with neither side allowing the reasonable opportunity, though it was abundantly clear Cagliari were the more adventurous. Shy of the quarter-hour Thiago Ribeiro latched onto a through ball but his touch lacked venom and was stopped by visiting goalkeeper Samir Handanovič. Moments later the Rossoblu narrowly missed with the go-ahead goal as Thiago Ribeiro and Nenê before the latter’s effort was cleared off the line by Maurizio Domizzi. Following those early efforts the visitors tightened down the midfield, rarely advancing forward and the contest went the break scoreless.

At the restart, Mr. Ficcadenti added Joaquín Larrivey for Nenê as he searched for a way through but the visitors were comfortable in thwarting Cagliari’s advances and their vaunted attack of Antonio Di Natale and Gabriel Torje ground to a halt. The Rossoblu were clearly the more threatening of the two with Joaquín Larrivey, in the final quarter-hour, nodding Thiago Ribeiro’s cross a fraction wide. With seven minutes remaining in regulation time the Cagliari tactician added twenty-two year-old attacking virtuoso Albin Ekdal for Radja Nainggolan in hope of the winning strike but it was not forthcoming and without further incident the match concluded as a nil draw.

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Despite a valiant late effort, Cagliari’s unbeaten start to the new campaign came to an end in their visit to Sicily with a 3-2 loss to Palermo at Stadio Renzo Barbera in week three of Serie A. With the result the “rossoblu” are within a scant single point of the top of the table ahead of Sunday’s clash Udinese as they return home.

Coming off this past weekend’s victory over Novara, Cagliari manager Massimo Ficcadenti maintained the edict of “it’s its not broke, don’t fix it” with the same line-up but from the opening whistle it was abundantly clear Palermo came out with venomous intent for the goal. After two consecutive weeks of near perfect defending rossoblu goalkeeper Michael Agazzi was under fire early with Israeli international Eran Zahavi, recently arrived from Hapoel Tel Aviv, sending a booming effort to the opposite top right corner from edge of the area less than thirty seconds into the affair. Stinging the visitors early, Palermo continued to attack and after seeing a Giulio Migliaccio chalked off for offside doubled the margin at the quarter-hour when Nicolás Bertolo, after being played in alone on the rights side of the area via Fabrizio Miccoli’s fine provision, drilled the ball to the roof of the net from eight metres.

Searching for the right mix, Mr. Ficcadenti summoned Gabriele Perico for Francesco Pisano just before the hour with former Huracán man Joaquín Larrivey entering for Ribeiro Thiago soon thereafter but once again it was the hosts who struck next. Coming with fourteen minutes remaining in regulation time Fabrizio Miccoli delivered a telling free-kick from an acute angle to the left of the area to near corner that caught that ‘keeper Michael Agazzi out of position to provide Palermo important insurance with the 3-0 advantage. In came Segundo Ibarbo for Nenê as Cagliari mounted an impressive charge Daniele Conti with pulling a goal back at the eighty-fourth minute with a clever low free kick that skipped to the near right corner of the net. As regulation time wound down Radja Nainggolan carved out a sumptuous opening via a one-two on the area of the area before cutting to the right and scoring from ten metres. However that would be as close as Cagliari would get as time ran out on their late heroics as Palermo laid claim to the 3-2 victory.

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Cagliari extended its impressive start to the new campaign with a 2-1 victory over visiting Novara at Stadio Sant’Elia in match day two of Serie A.

Sardinian manager Massimo Ficcadenti, conforming to the edict if it’s not broke, don’t fix it, maintained the same starting eleven that claimed victory over Roma in the opening week. From the favoured 4-3-1-2 formation that featured the Brazilian attacking duo of Nenê and Thiago Ribeiro paired up to. In a well disciplined tight-fisted affair chances were far from overflowing though visiting goalkeeper Samir Ujkani proved up to the challenge when threatened, starting with a close range stop of Davide Biondini before the quarter-hour. Midway of the half Francesco Pisano, at the back post, lofted a headed from a right wing cross towards the far corner but the visiting ‘keeper swatted the ball to safety. However seven minutes shy of the half the hosts leapt to their feet as Alessandro Agostini’s cross from the left was deftly needed on by Nenê with his attacking partner Thiago Ribeiro heading the ball powerfully into the net. The Cagliari mid-field trio of Davide Biondini, captain Daniele Conti and Radja Nainggolan were controlling the run of the play with the latter narrowly missing doubling the lead before the break only to see his effort from twenty-metres chalked off due to a offside call.

After a brief flurry from the Novara, enjoying their first taste of the sun in Serie A in fifty-five years, Mr. Ficcadenti, called upon Víctor Ibarbo for Ribeiro Thiago just before the hour. The run of the play was clearly in the Cagliari’s favour and with nineteen minutes remaining in regulation time Víctor Ibarbo lead a mercurial attack on the left, sending the ball to Nenê who came off the by-line only to see his acute angled effort denied by the visiting ‘keeper. At the eighty-eighth minute, Victor Ibarbo’s effort from ten metres bounded just outside the area where Daniele Conti rifled a low effort that Joaquín Larrivey deflected modestly to the left corner of the net. Moments later Takayuki Morimoto’s effort from just outside the area took an improbably high deflection off Davide Astori and just beyond the outstretched mitts of host ‘keeper Michael Agazzi but that would be as close as it would get as Cagliari claimed the 2-1 victory.

Prepared by John Davies
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