Serie A | Cagliari 0-2 Inter: Lautaro Martinez and Esposito secure victory

Inter were unlucky not to double their lead on 53 minutes, as Barella laid it off for Hakan Calhanoglu to sweep first-time from outside the D, as the low drive bounced off the inside of the upright and back out.

Moments later, Thuram skinned Yerry Mina to get away and his strike towards the far top corner was well palmed away by Caprile.

Federico Dimarco volleyed a dangerous ball across the six-yard line, but Thuram didn’t get there in time for what would’ve been an easy tap-in, while Lautaro Martinez flicked a long ball wide after Caprile mistimed the rush off his line.

Cagliari thought they had equalised on 73 minutes when Michael Folorunsho got his head to a corner, but it thumped the base of the near post from seven yards.

Dimarco, Manuel Akanji and Francesco Pio Esposito turned wide from promising positions, but Dimarco needed a decisive block to throw himself in the path of Gennaro Borrelli’s ferocious half-volley from 12 yards.

Riyad Idrissi needed a desperate goal-line clearance to deny Davide Frattesi, but the move continued and Dimarco pulled back from the by-line for Pio Esposito to turn in his first ever Serie A goal.

Cagliari kept pushing, Michel Adopo’s glancing header flashing inches wide, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan thumped the near post with a scuffed finish one-on-one.

Cagliari 0-2 Inter

Lautaro Martinez 9 (I), Pio Esposito 82 (I)

27-09-2025 19:45 MatchDay 5 Unipol Domus (Sardegna Arena)

Cagliari

Inter 0 - 2

Player statistic

1st half

		9'		Lautaro Martínez (Assist: Alessandro Bastoni)
		45+1'		Carlos Augusto

2nd half

59'

Nicolò Barella     82'

Pio Esposito (Assist: Federico Dimarco) Cagliari Inter

Starting lineups

1

Elia Caprile Goalkeeper 33 Adam Obert Defender 77' 2 Marco Palestra Defender 6

Sebastiano Luperto Defender 26

Yerry Mina Defender 32 Zé Pedro Defender 58' 14

Alessandro Deiola Midfielder 58' 90 Michael Folorunsho Midfielder 77' 8

Michel Adopo Midfielder 19

Andrea Belotti Attacker 44' 94 Sebastiano Esposito Attacker 13 Josep Martínez Goalkeeper 95

Alessandro Bastoni Defender

Manuel Akanji Defender 6

Stefan de Vrij Defender 30

Carlos Augusto Midfielder 46' 20

Hakan Calhanoglu Midfielder 22

Henrikh Mkhitaryan Midfielder 23

Nicolò Barella Midfielder 64' 10

Lautaro Martínez Attacker 89' 11 Luis Henrique Attacker 72' 9

Marcus Thuram Attacker

64'

Substitutes

20

Marko Rog Midfielder 30

Leonardo Pavoletti Attacker 21 Nicolò Cavuoti Midfielder 4

Luca Mazzitelli Midfielder 24 Giuseppe Ciocci Goalkeeper 9 Semih Kılıçsoy Attacker Juan Rodríguez Defender 34 Vincenzo Sarno Goalkeeper 27 Joseph Liteta Midfielder 16 Matteo Prati Midfielder 44' 10

Gianluca Gaetano Midfielder 58' 17 Mattia Felici Attacker 58' 29 Gennaro Borrelli Attacker 77' 3 Riyad Idrissi Defender 77' 15

Francesco Acerbi Defender 7

Piotr Zielinski Midfielder 36

Matteo Darmian Defender 1

Yann Sommer Goalkeeper 17 Andy Diouf Attacker 12 Raffaele Di Gennaro Goalkeeper 31 Yann Bisseck Defender 8 Petar Sucic Defender 42 Tomas Palacios Defender 32

Federico Dimarco Defender 46' 16 Davide Frattesi Midfielder 64' 94 Pio Esposito Attacker 64' 2

Denzel Dumfries Midfielder 72' 14

Ange-Yoan Bonny Defender

89'