MATCH REPORT | ATALANTA-CAGLIARI 1-2
Cagliari beat Atalanta 2-1 to claim a hugely important victory after a hard-fought and action-packed game. The goals came from Mendy and Maldini, with Scamacca scoring Atalanta’s equaliser in between.
Cagliari started on the front foot and in the 15th minute Romano tried his luck from outside the box, forcing Carnesecchi to tip the ball behind for a corner. The Rossoblù continued to push forward and took the lead in the 19th minute: Adopo sent the ball into the middle, Mendy pounced on it and finished from close range, with his effort hitting the crossbar before crossing the line. Atalanta responded and found an equaliser in the 41st minute: following a challenge on De Ketelaere, the ball fell to Scamacca, who beat Caprile inside the box with a shot that was made even more difficult to save by a deflection off Obert. The teams went into the break level at 1-1.
Early in the second half, Cagliari found the net again through Mendy, but the striker was marginally offside when he latched onto Romano’s through ball. In the 61st minute, Cagliari regained the lead: Deiola won a penalty, which Maldini coolly converted, sending Carnesecchi the wrong way. Atalanta looked for a response and in the 76th minute Samardzic went on a mazy run into the box before firing just wide. The home side continued to attack and in the 83rd minute Kessié had a good chance inside the area, but his delicate effort was kept out by Caprile. Atalanta threw everything forward in search of an equaliser in the closing stages, but Cagliari held firm to secure their third win in four games and make their best start to a Serie A season in the three-points-per-win era.
ATALANTA-CAGLIARI 1-2
GOALS: 19’ Mendy, 41’ Scamacca, 61’ Maldini
ATALANTA: Carnesecchi; Bellanova, Kossounou, Scalvini, Kolasinac (68’ Bernasconi); Samardzic (76’ Raspadori), Kessié (86’ Pašalić), Ederson; De Ketelaere, Scamacca (68’ Krstović), Rowe. Head coach: Sarri.
CAGLIARI: Caprile; Zé Pedro (68’ Sugawara), Deiola, Rodríguez, Obert; Romano, Winks, Fazzini (57’ Fadera); Adopo, Maldini (79’ Kofler); Mendy (79’ Kevin Carlos). Head coach: Pisacane.
