The Empoli-Cagliari salvation clash sees the fear of losing prevail. At the Castellani, in front of a thousand Sardinian fans, it ends 0-0 with very few goal opportunities.
At the start, caution prevails. In the 6th minute, Empoli finds a good play to free Cacace on the left, the New Zealander enters the area but instead of shooting he crosses and Luperto saves. For Cagliari, in the 13th minute, a nice movement on the right by Luvumbo and a shot-cross that is too powerful .
On a corner for Cagliari, rejected, in the 20th minute Empoli goes on the counterattack: Sambia runs to the right, looks for Kouamé who slides but the ball becomes good for Henderson whose low right-footed shot ends up wide. The Scotsman in the 24th minute tries to surprise Caprile directly from a corner, the rossoblù goalkeeper (one of the many ex) slaps it away . On the other side Piccoli with his left foot from 16 meters, Vásquez blocks his low shot.
A nice move by Viola leads Luvumbo to receive in the area, the Empoli defense shields but the ball becomes good for Zortea: right-footed shot from the edge, high (33'). The match then proceeds without jolts to the interval, where the teams go after a minute of recovery .
The second half was played without changes. In the 49th minute, Viola almost scored a second consecutive goal at the start of the second half, with a free kick from 20 metres out of the net. Just before the hour mark (59'), Nicola started the series of changes, with Coman and Gaetano replacing Luvumbo and Viola. Shortly after, in the 62nd minute, Sambia had the illusion of a goal, kicking a free kick wide .
For the last twenty minutes there is also Gabriele Zappa, who replaces Palomino (yellow card). Good save by Caprile in the 79th minute on a header by Ebuehi, another substitute, but the ball had gone out before Colombo's cross. Nicola finishes the substitutions in the 82nd minute, Pavoletti and Deiola for Piccoli and Prati. Goglichidze in the 87th minute forces Caprile to touch a cross-shot from the right by the Georgian . Then four minutes of added time where nothing happens.
