Should the Serie B crown wind up in southern Sardinia come May, fewer results will look more retrospectively vital than Cagliari's 2-1 win over Avellino at the Lombardi on a chilly Friday evening.
The Rossoblu required the magic touch of Alberto Cerri who rose from the substitutes bench to complete the comeback for Massimo Rastelli's charges.
Benjamin Mokulu had struck within four minutes to stun the away side but they responded emphatically. Gianni Munari levelling six minutes later.
Alessandro Sbaffo was dismissed for a series of offences midway through the first-half but, despite withstanding the visitors' pressures for much of the second period, they were hapless in preventing Cerri from rifling home the winner with thirteen minutes to play.
A frenetic opening
Cagliari’s free-flowing, attacking style has won them plenty of admirers this term and their quick interchanges almost engendered an opener within ninety seconds.
Marco Sau laid the ball back to Antonio Barecca who, in an instant, burst into the penalty area and pulled the ball back to Joao Pedro, but the attacker could not bring the ball under control and the hosts survived an early scare.
But the home side regained their composure and, on four minutes, punished their guests. Fabrizio Paghera met Alessandro Sbaffo's free-kick with conviction and when his header rebounded off the post Benjamin Mokulu was on hand to prod into an empty net.
Cagliari restored parity within minutes, however. Pedro, atoning for his earlier miss, breezed past his marker and squared the ball across to an advancing Gianni Munari who stroked the ball home.
Avellino's bright start, though, was undermined on 24 minutes when midfielder Sbaffo was dismissed for a series of infringments. Having written his name into the referee’s notebook for a cynical challenge minutes earlier, the 25-year-old was adjudged to have deliberately halted the flight of the ball with his arm in an innocuous area of the pitch and the Lupi would be forced to play the remaining 65 minutes with a numerical disadvantage.
A tough feat, especially against an outfit as unremitting in exploiting space.
Sau worked the home side’s No.1 on 29 minutes after Diego Farias had shimmied inside and manufactured space for the forward.
The 28-year-old was denied by the frame of the goal ten minutes before the interval when he sprung the offside trap, wormed between the heart of the hosts’ rearguard and scuffed an effort that hit the outside of the post.
The contest, despite Cagliari’s man advantage, was becoming stretch and it was the side with ten men who could’ve restored their advantage. Profiting from some questionable defending from Barecca, Samuel Bastien latched onto the defender’s insipid header but, with only Marco Storari to beat, dragged his effort inches wide of the far post.
Barecca had menaced throughout and the left-back delivered an unerring cross into Pedro on half-time but the forward could not direct his header towards goal.
The away side quickly monopolised possession after the interval, with Munari stinging the palms of Pierluigi Frattali from distance.
The Rossoblu were probing and, aided by the perpetual movement of Pedro behind the front duo, Munari was frequently granted the license to burst menacingly into the penalty area. The goalscorer duly did so on 55 minutes but was quickly stifled by the home side’s backline.
Visitors crank up pressure
Substitute Federico Melchiorri spurned a golden opportunity on 69 minutes to edge his side infront. Diego Farias delivered a menacing free-kick but, as the ball dropped back to the burly forward, he skied his effort into touch.
For much of the second period a second goal seemed elusive for the visitors. That was until Alberto Cerri rose from the substitutes bench with sixteen minutes to play and, within three of those, delivered the killer blow.
Slaloming inside, Farias unleashed an effort at goal and, aided by both a wicked deflection and botched clearance, the ball fell invitingly for the substitute who took one touch and rifled beyond Frattali with his left-foot.
Munari could have sealed the points with nine minutes to play when he was liberated by Melchiorri but was expertly foiled by the hosts' No.1.