Serie A | Sassuolo 2-1 Cagliari: Sardinians fumble precious lead

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Skip to contentSASSUOLO, ITALY – APRIL 04: Andrea Pinamonti of US Sassuolo Calcio celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the Serie A match between US Sassuolo Calcio and Cagliari Calcio at Mapei Stadium Citta del Tricolore on April 04, 2026 in Sassuolo, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Sassuolo turned it around after the Sebastiano Esposito penalty, as Ulisses Garcia and Andrea Pinamonti plunge Cagliari closer to the relegation zone.

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Both teams went into the break for international duty in poor form, as the Neroverdi remain comfortably mid-table, but scraped one point from three rounds after their squad was decimated by a whooping cough outbreak in the 1-1 draw at Juventus.

Daniel Boloca, Fali Cande and Edoardo Pieragnolo were long-term absentees, though Kristian Thorstvedt returned. Cagliari risked getting dragged back into the danger zone after two points in seven rounds, with Alberto Dossena suspended, Leonardo Pavoletti, Mattia Felici and Riyad Idrissi injured.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Thorstvedt’s chest and volley flashed just wide of the far top corner, while Sebastiano Esposito’s attempt was charged down from 12 yards.

Esposito tried to break through the middle, but Jay Idzes flicked the ball away from his knee with a hand while stumbling, and VAR spotted the handling offence to award the penalty. Esposito converted hard and low into the near bottom corner, despite Arijanet Muric getting his fingertips to it.

Alessandro Deiola also tested Muric, but Armand Laurienté saw his free kick fingertipped over the bar by Elia Caprile and Domenico Berardi’s shot from a corner kick routine was blocked off.

Sassuolo equalised after the restart, as Yerry Mina cleared a corner to the edge of the D, where Ulisses Garcia was ready to control with his chest and sweep on the half-volley into the bottom corner. It was the first Serie A goal for the January signing from Olympique Marseille.

Juan Rodriguez prevented Domenico Berardi going clear after a give and go with Thorstvedt, but Deiola couldn’t keep his header down on a Marco Palestra cross.

Luca Lipani scored within minutes of coming off the bench, but was clearly offside on the Thorstvedt assist.

It was just a warning, as Sassuolo did turn the game around when Darryl Bakola flicked on a throw-in for Andrea Pinamonti, who gathered with his back to goal, turned and threaded the finish through a tiny gap into the near bottom corner from 12 yards.

Cagliari had a huge chance to equalise in stoppages when Muric fumbled a simple cross, but Adam Obert couldn’t keep the finish on target from a tricky angle when faced with the open goal.

Sassuolo 2-1 Cagliari

Esposito pen 30 (C), Garcia 50 (S), Pinamonti 78 (S)

04-04-2026 14:00

MatchDay 31

Mapei Stadium – Città del TricoloreSASCAG

Live2 – 1

Player statistic

SAS

CAG

Starting lineups

49

Arijanet Muric
Goalkeeper

19

Filippo Romagna
Defender

58′

21

Jay Idzes
Defender

6

Sebastian Walukiewicz
Defender

23

Ulisses Garcia
Defender

7

Cristian Volpato
Midfielder

58′

90

Ismaël Koné
Midfielder

69′

42

Kristian Thorstvedt
Midfielder

99

Andrea Pinamonti
Attacker

82′

45

Armand Lauriente
Attacker

69′

10

Domenico Berardi
Attacker

1

Elia Caprile
Goalkeeper

33

Adam Obert
Defender

15

Juan Rodríguez
Defender

2

Marco Palestra
Defender

26

Yerry Mina
Defender

32

Zé Pedro
Defender

83′

14

Alessandro Deiola
Midfielder

10

Gianluca Gaetano
Midfielder

75′

90

Michael Folorunsho
Midfielder

74′

8

Michel Adopo
Midfielder

90′

94

Sebastiano Esposito
Attacker

90′

Substitutes

12

Giacomo Satalino
Goalkeeper

16

Gioele Zacchi
Goalkeeper

13

Stefano Turati
Goalkeeper

24

Luca Moro
Attacker

44

Edoardo Iannoni
Midfielder

3

Josh Doig
Defender

40

Aster Vranckx
Midfielder

20

Alieu Fadera
Midfielder

80

Tarik Muharemovic
Defender

66

Pedro Felipe
Defender

25

Woyo Coulibaly
Defender

58′

18

Nemanja Matic
Midfielder

58′

35

Luca Lipani
Midfielder

69′

50

Darryl Bakola
Midfielder

69′

8

M’Bala Nzola
Attacker

82′

19

Andrea Belotti
Attacker

4

Luca Mazzitelli
Midfielder

24

Giuseppe Ciocci
Goalkeeper

12

Alen Sherri
Goalkeeper

27

Joseph Liteta
Midfielder

20

Agustín Albarracín
Midfielder

18

Othniel Raterink
Midfielder

29

Gennaro Borrelli
Attacker

74′

25

Ibrahim Sulemana
Midfielder

75′

9

Semih Kılıçsoy
Attacker

83′

28

Gabriele Zappa
Defender

90′

31

Paul Mendy
Attacker

90′

BySusy Campanale

Original Article