Serie A: Parma 2-3 Cagliari – Resilient visitors exit relegation zone

Cagliari picked up their first Serie A win of the 2024-25 season with a dramatic 3-2 victory away against newly-promoted Parma on Monday night, with Cagliari goals coming courtesy of Nadir Zortea, Razvan Marin and Roberto Piccoli. 

Both sides made a handful of changes each from their most recent Serie A line-ups, as Emmanuele Valeri and Antoine Hainaut replaced Woyo Coulibaly and Simon Sohm in the Parma line-up, while Cagliari trio Adam Obert, Michel Adopo and Nicolas Viola replaced Marin, Tommaso Augello and Alessandro Deiola. 

Yerry Mina thought he had the visitors ahead after just seven minutes, tapping into an unattended net following a Cagliari set-piece, but his effort was later ruled out for offside. 

There were no doubts about the eventual opener, though, as Zortea slammed a powerful header in from close range after a perfectly weighted cross off the left flank from ito Luvumbo. 

Parma got themselves back level through Dennis Man after 62 minutes. Coulibaly, who came on at half-time, dazzled Zortea with some neat footwork on the left-hand edge of the area, before cutting back for Man to slam home into the far corner of the net. 

The Romania international is averaging a goal every two games for Parma this season, and is now up to three from six outings so far in 2024-25. 

Marin emerged off the bench to put Cagliari back ahead 12 minutes after Man’s equaliser, firing a shot into the top corner with a wicked bit of bend and dip to send it past Zion Suzuki. 

Parma got themselves level again from the penalty spot, but it took a lengthy VAR review to award the spot kick. 

There were no doubts that Jose Luis Palomino fouled Gabriel Charpentier, but the incident took place right on the edge of the penalty area. The referee had initially blown for a free-kick, but the video assistants stepped in and a penalty was eventually awarded. 

Hernani just about managed to squeeze it into the bottom right corner, although Simone Scuffet did get a hand to it. 

Cagliari restored their lead immediately after the re-start. A finely worked team move ended with Gianluca Gaetano feeding Piccoli, sending him into the area, where he was able to convert past Suzuki, virtually one-on-one. 

Cagliari are now up to 16th place with at the end of this weekend’s round of fixtures, having sat at the bottom of the table on two points heading into Monday night’s game. Parma, meanwhile sit one place above them on the same number of points.

Full-time in Serie A: Parma 2-3 Cagliari

Zortea (Cag) 34′, Man (Par) 62′, Marin (Cag) 75′, Hernani (Par) 87′, Piccoli (Cag) 87′.