After more than an hour of fear, Esposito's header broke down the Cremonese wall: Cagliari won the "final relegation battle" 1-0 and took a potentially decisive step towards staying in Serie A. The rossoblù had not won since January 31st.
Cagliari lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, with the Rossoblu charging around each other before kickoff . Two minutes later, they had a cleared corner, but Palestra controlled it and forced a save from Audero with his left foot, who fired over the crossbar. A thrilling moment in the 12th minute: a counterattack, Bonazzoli sent Okereke down the left, who, once inside the box, fell—alone—just before contact with Caprile. Doveri let play continue; there was no penalty.
Cagliari also came close in the 21st minute: a corner with a pass and a cross from Vandeputte, Okereke towered over Rodríguez in the center of the box, but his header was off-balance, and Caprile managed to block . Cremonese again in the 24th minute, with a throw-in (after Juan Rodríguez had blocked the ball in the box from Bondo) and a cross from the left, headed by Floriani Mussolini, forcing Caprile to make another save. The Domus crowd didn't like it.
The middle of the match favors Cremonese, with Cagliari struggling. Pisacane is also forced to make his first substitution in the 31st minute, with Mazzitelli suffering an injury (calf strain), replaced by Adopo . After a long period without making an appearance in the penalty area, Cagliari finds another shot on target in the 34th minute: Esposito's free kick from the right, Folorunsho's weak header at the far post, and Audero saves in two stages.
Folorunsho, again, in the 38th minute, fired into the box from a tight angle, but his cross-shot went wide (Deiola had previously been called offside). Two minutes later, Gaetano made a good central run, finding Baschirotto's sliding tackle on his left in the box, and the rebound blocked Folorunsho's curling right-footer, Luperto . In the 45th minute, Pezzella got ahead of Esposito, who was coordinating his volley, after Obert's cross. The half-time break followed three minutes of added time, with more than a few boos from the crowd.
No other changes for the second half, with Deiola taking the first shot in the 49th minute, a low right-footed shot wide. In the 54th minute, Borrelli's header from the left corner was saved by Audero. On the following play, following a defensive error by Cagliari, Bonazzoli controlled the ball at the edge of the area, forcing Rodríguez to sit down, but his left-footed shot went wide . It was a great chance for the visitors.
In the 61st minute, Pisacane also made a tactical change, bringing on Mendy for Borrelli and Zé Pedro for Folorunsho (Palestra moved up to the wing). And it was precisely these two substitutes who orchestrated the goal that broke the deadlock in the relegation battle: the Portuguese received the ball from the 2007-born player, crossed from the right to the far post where Esposito—forgotten by the Cremonese defense—headed it past Audero . Cagliari took the lead in the 63rd minute, and Unipol Domus exploded with celebrations, first under the Curva Sud and then on the bench with Pisacane.
Shortly after the goal, in the 68th minute, Giampaolo switched to a 3-4-3, with Sanabria replacing Vandeputte and Payero replacing Floriani Mussolini. Then, in the 73rd minute, he brought on Barbieri for Terracciano. But Cagliari came close to doubling their lead in the 75th minute, with Obert's cross leading to Deiola's powerful header in the center of the box, only to be met by a superb save from Audero . Giampaolo's final substitutions came in the 78th minute, with Djurić and Zerbin coming in for Bondo and Okereke.
A high recovery sends Palestra dribbling to the edge of the penalty area (82'), managing to fire a right-footed shot but missing the target. Mina, already in pain for a few minutes, heads Barbieri's cross into a corner in the 86th minute and then goes down. He also manages to clear the subsequent corner and convinces Pisacane not to sub. Then, for the final slot, Andrea Belotti makes a remarkable return, replacing—to a standing ovation from the crowd—the exhausted Esposito (also suffering from cramp, 88') . Dossena comes on instead for Juan Rodríguez. In the four minutes of added time, Caprile saves a Zerbin cross-shot.
