Cagliari-Roma 1-0
GOALS: 37’st Gaetano.
CAGLIARI (3-5-2): Caprile 6; Zappa 6.5 (24′ st Prati 6), Rodriguez 6.5, Luperto 7; Palestra 7.5 (47′ st Di Pardo sv), Adopo 6, Deiola 6.5, Folorunsho 7 (47′ st Kilicsoy sv), Obert 6.5 (32′ st Idrissi 6); Borrelli 6.5 (24′ st Gaetano 7.5), Esposito 6.5. On the bench: Ciocci, Radunovic, Pintus, Gaetano, Rog, Cavuoti, Liteta, Pavoletti, Luvumbo. Coach: Pisacane 7.
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar 6.5; Mancini 6, Ndicka 6, Hermoso 6; Celik 4, Cristante 5 (17′ st El Aynaoui 5.5), Kone 5.5, Tsimikas 6 (28′ st Ghilardi 4); Soulé 5 (17′ st Ferguson 5.5), Pellegrini 5.5 (17′ st Dybala 4.5); Baldanzi 5.5 (8′ st Rensch 6). On the bench: Vasquez, Gollini, Ziolkowski, Pisilli, Bailey, Arena, El Shaarawy. Coach: Gasperini 5.
REFEREE: Zufferli of Udine 6.
NOTES: clear day, terrain in good condition. In the 7th minute Celik was sent off for a direct red card (clear goal opportunity). Booked: Folorunsho, Hermoso, Gaetano. Corners: 4-1. Recovery: 1′; 7′.
Cagliari regains a victory that was missing in the league since September 19th against a Roma team who suffered their second consecutive defeat with 10 men. At Unipol Domus it ended 1-0 thanks to Gianluca Gaetano’s goal in a second half dominated by the Sardinians after Celik’s sending off at the start of the second half. Even with equal numbers, however, Gasperini’s team had shown more than one difficulty on the pitch against Pisacane’s men. Roma kept the ball in the first half (60% of possession), but struggled to create scoring opportunities and contain the Sardinians’ attacks, who challenged Svilar on three occasions and appeared several times near the Giallorossi area. In the 7th minute Borrelli takes advantage of a fall from Ndicka to fly towards the goal, but loses some playing time and suffers the recovery of the Ivorian defender. In the 23rd minute Folorunsho’s header did not surprise the Giallorossi goalkeeper, who was also attentive to Esposito’s shot (28′) from a tight angle. Gasperini’s move to deploy Baldanzi as a false nine doesn’t pay off: Roma create little and struggle to get going again.
In the 52nd minute the game changes. Folorunsho does everything or almost everything, who snatches a ball in the midfield and physically breaks through Mancini and Celik’s block, who knocks down the former Fiorentina player just outside the area. Referee Zufferli initially awards the penalty, but at the VAR the decision changes: free kick and direct red card for the Turk. In the 58th minute it was Svilar who saved the result: Obert got rid of Ndicka in the area and fired a sure shot, but the outgoing Giallorossi goalkeeper closed the shutter. Roma responds with a triple substitution: Soulè, Pellegrini and Cristante out; inside Ferguson, Dybala and El Aynaoui. However, the situation does not change. Shortly after another chance for Cagliari: Esposito rewards the central insertion of Deiola, who hits without giving force but still forcing Svilar to fumble. Cagliari’s most dangerous man is Palestra who breaks through on the right in the 77th minute: he passes Ghilardi, comes back on the left foot and looks for a cross shot that ends up at the bottom. The goal is in the air and arrives from a corner kick. Not with a header, but with the class of Gaetano who blocks Ghilardi’s hole with his chest and crosses it into the net with his counter-ball right foot. Nervousness reigns in the final: little play is done, with fouls and errors. It’s the prologue for Cagliari’s celebration as they move to 14 points in the standings. Roma remain at 27 players awaiting matches against Como and Juventus.
Cremonese-Lecce 2-0
GOALS: 7’st pen. Bonazzoli, 33’st Sanabria.
CREMONESE (3-5-2): Audero 6; Terracciano 6, Baschirotto 6.5, Bianchetti 6.5 (43’st Vazquez sv); Barbieri 6 (43’st Folino sv), Payero 6.5, Bondo 6 (24’st Grassi 6), Vandeputte 6 (22’st Zerbin 6.5), Floriani Mussolini 6.5; Bonazzoli 7 (29’st Sanabria 7), Vardy 6. On the bench: Silvestri, Nava, Valoti, Johnsen, Moumbagna, Sarmiento, Ceccherini, Lordkipanisze. Coach: Nicola 6.5.
LECCE (4-2-3-1): Falcone 6; Veiga 5.5, Gaspar 5.5, Tiago Gabriel 6, Gallo 5.5; Ramadani 5 (32’st Kaba 6), Coulibaly 6; Pierotti 5 (22’st Ndri 5.5), Berisha 5.5 (32’st Sala 6), Banda 5 (1’st Sottil 5); Stulic 5 (22’st Camarda 5.5). On the bench: Samooja, Ndaba, Siebert, Morente, Helgason, Kouassi, Maleh. Coach: Di Francesco 6.
REFEREE: Mucera of Palermo 5.5.
NOTES: Clear day, pitch in good condition. Booked: Banda, Bianchetti, Gallo. Angles: 5-5. Recovery time: 4′; 7′.
Cremonese doesn’t stop and achieves its second consecutive victory. Davide Nicola’s boys won 2-0 over Lecce in the Zini match, valid for the fourteenth matchday of Serie A 2025/2026: the goals in the second half by Federico Bonazzoli (on a penalty) and Antonio Sanabria decided. Ready-go, the visiting team immediately carves out the first opportunity with Stulic who, on an assist from Berisha, devours the opening goal. The Salento team made a good start to the match, while the grey-red team struggled a bit to get out of their own half of the pitch. The first half was rather fragmented due to numerous fouls committed by both sides, so the result remained stuck at 0-0. In the 32nd minute Berisha tries a shot from distance, but his attempt is unrealistic. The first shot towards the Cremonese goal, however, only arrived in the 35th minute with a lob from Payero that went out of the back.
At the end of the 4′ of injury time conceded by Mucera, we went to rest with the score at 0-0. At the start of the second half the hosts returned to the field with a different attitude and in the 52nd minute they won a penalty for a foul by Ramadani on Vandeputte, awarded after a VAR review: Federico Bonazzoli appeared on the spot and coolly beat Falcone. A few minutes later the match director annulled a goal for the Grigiorossi due to a foul by Baschirotto on the opposing goalkeeper. A similar situation also arises in the 62nd minute, with another goal canceled due to an irregularity by the former player on Falcone. In the 66th minute Payero shoots from a good position, but misses. Di Francesco runs for cover and turns his Lecce upside down with some substitutions, which however do not bring the desired results since it is always the Lombard team that plays the game. In fact, in the 78th minute he secured the victory by doubling the lead with a header from Sanabria, who was able to capitalize on a kissed cross from Zerbin. Then little or nothing, Lecce is unable to react. Cremonese continues to fly in the standings, reaching 20 points, while Lecce remains stationary at 13.