Cagliari’s feat against Juventus. One nil at Unipol Domus with Mazzitelli scoring the decisive goal and with the Bianconeri stopped just when they seemed to have taken off with victories over Sassuolo and Cremonese. Numbers all on the side of Spalletti’s team: almost 80 percent of ball possession, 18 corners against one, nineteen shots on goal. But there was a lack of brilliance in finding solutions in the final metres. And in the end Juventus hit a wall for 98 minutes. And against a post, the one hit by Kenan Yildiz. For Juventus it is a bad setback in the leading group – now Spalletti is 10 points behind leaders Inter – for stoic Cagliari, however, the three points won are worth gold in terms of salvation.
Yildiz plays, perhaps for the whole week. And Koopmeiners settles in midfield next to Locatelli. Quality is entrusted to the three behind David, Mc Kennie, Miretti and the Turk. In Cagliari Mina returns to the center of defense. And Gaetano, surprisingly, plays point guard. Immediate thrill in the quarter of an hour with a penalty for Juve. However, the Mazzitelli-Miretti contact, reviewed at VAR, does not exist. Indeed, it is the Juventus player who seems to touch the rossoblù. But the picture is clear: Juventus is immediately very aggressive. And a Cagliari team that almost never manages to get beyond midfield: they have difficulty maintaining possession of the ball.
In the 25th minute Juve were still very close to scoring: Yildiz’s strike on the left, then the ball on the right for Miretti: a shot (almost) with a sure shot and a rebound from Caprile. Another opportunity that confirms the supremacy of the Bianconeri in the first half hour.
There are some restarts for Cagliari: but the right choice at the right time is always missing. In the end Juventus attacks, but doesn’t break through. The only dangerous player at the end is Miretti, Yildiz gets a yellow for simulation.
The second half is a repeat of the first half: the game is only played in the home team’s half, but Juventus are not very clear.
Cagliari’s defense is compact and combative, in the first quarter of an hour the Bianconeri take corners galore and shoot from outside with Miretti, Cambiaso and even Kelly. Yildiz’s run is dangerous in the 17th minute: he dribbles and eats up the entire defence, but then he also eats up the goal.
And in the end Cagliari scores. Free kick by Gaetano, volleyed by Mazzitelli, who had his back to the goal. And the ball is in the corner. It is Cagliari’s second shot of the match.
Spalletti, who was already warming up Openda and Zhegrova, relies on them. And the siege becomes an invasion of the rossoblù area with balloons falling in front of Caprile from all sides. Cagliari cannot be seen in attack (but not even in midfield): they focus on all-out resistance, leaving Borrelli alone to wage war. Yildiz also tries alone, then Spalletti also sends Thuram and Conceicao to help him.
The most sensational opportunity in the 38th minute: Yildiz’s usual post with a shot from outside deflected by Mina. In the final, then, nothing more happens: Cagliari’s defense is a wall that the Bianconeri are unable to overcome.
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