Serie A | Cagliari 1-2 Sassuolo: Big victory in relegation battle

Michael Folorunsho nodded over and Marco Palestra had a shot charged down from the edge of the area.

Sebastiano Esposito had the ball in the net on 28 minutes at full stretch at the back post, but was offside when Gennaro Borrelli flicked on the Palestra cross.

Sassuolo also threatened, Andrea Pinamonti’s volley charged down on a Cristian Volpato corner, then Elia Caprile had to palm away the wicked bend on a Thorstvedt strike.

Moments later, the Cagliari goalkeeper used a foot to parry the Volpato angled drive that had gone through a defender’s legs.

Palestra bent a curler wide on the counter when his teammates would’ve preferred a cross, but Sassuolo took the lead on 54 minutes.

Armand Laurienté curled a right-foot free kick over the wall and it dipped viciously into the near top corner, with Caprile unsighted.

Ismael Koné fired off target moments later, but Gabriele Zappa came so close to an equaliser when his effort from the edge of the area bounced off the crossbar.

Sassuolo doubled their lead on the counter-attack with a well-worked move, as Volpato found Pinamonti in the box, who dropped the shoulder to send two defenders to ground, cutting inside to drill into the near bottom corner with his left foot.

Just as Cagliari seemed to have been crushed, they fought back with Mattia Felici breaking down the right and rolling into the six-yard box for Sebastiano Esposito to tap in from six yards. It allowed him to end his drought after 31 games without a goal, and the first Sardinian strike at home in Serie A since September.

Volpato continued to push and his attempt from a very tight angle thumped the outside of the upright. Walid Cheddira also flashed a ball across the face of goal in stoppages, but Alieu Fadera was unable to meet it.

Cagliari 1-2 Sassuolo

Laurienté 54 (S), Pinamonti 65 (S), S Esposito 73 (C)

30-10-2025 17:30 MatchDay 9 Unipol Domus (Sardegna Arena)

Cagliari

Sassuolo 1 - 2

Player statistic

1st half

Michael Folorunsho		12'
		37'		Kristian Thorstvedt

2nd half

		54'		Armand Lauriente
Adam Obert		58'
		65'		Andrea Pinamonti (Assist: Cristian Volpato)
Sebastiano Esposito (Assist: Mattia Felici)

73'         86' Alieu Fadera Riyad Idrissi 89'     Elia Caprile 90+7'         90+6' Edoardo Iannoni     90'

Sebastian Walukiewicz Cagliari Sassuolo

Starting lineups

1

Elia Caprile Goalkeeper 33 Adam Obert Defender 28 Gabriele Zappa Defender 62' 2 Marco Palestra Defender 3 Riyad Idrissi Defender 32 Zé Pedro Defender 16 Matteo Prati Midfielder 90 Michael Folorunsho Midfielder 62' 8

Michel Adopo Midfielder 84' 29

Gennaro Borrelli Attacker 76' 94 Sebastiano Esposito Attacker 83' 49

Arijanet Muric Goalkeeper 5

Fali Candé Defender 21 Jay Idzes Defender 6

Sebastian Walukiewicz Defender 25

Woyo Coulibaly Defender 7 Cristian Volpato Midfielder 85' 90

Ismaël Koné Midfielder 85' 42

Kristian Thorstvedt Midfielder 74' 18

Nemanja Matic Midfielder 99

Andrea Pinamonti Attacker 74' 45

Armand Lauriente Attacker

74'

Substitutes

6

Sebastiano Luperto Defender 21 Nicolò Cavuoti Midfielder 18 Alessandro Di Pardo Defender 24 Giuseppe Ciocci Goalkeeper 26

Yerry Mina Defender 9 Semih Kılıçsoy Attacker Juan Rodríguez Defender 34 Vincenzo Sarno Goalkeeper 27 Joseph Liteta Midfielder 10

Gianluca Gaetano Midfielder 62' 17

Mattia Felici Attacker 62' 30

Leonardo Pavoletti Attacker 76' 77 Zito Luvumbo Attacker 83' 4

Luca Mazzitelli Midfielder 84' 16 Gioele Zacchi Goalkeeper 17 Yeferson Paz Defender 13 Stefano Turati Goalkeeper 77 Nicholas Pierini Attacker 3

Josh Doig Defender 26 Cas Odenthal Defender 35 Luca Lipani Midfielder 80

Tarik Muharemovic Defender 24 Luca Moro Attacker 74' 40

Aster Vranckx Midfielder 74' 20 Alieu Fadera Midfielder 74' 44

Edoardo Iannoni Midfielder 85' 9

Walid Cheddira Attacker

85'