Cagliari President Tommaso Giulini was “proud” of their performances even after the unbeaten run ended, but was not happy with Lazio scoring twice in over seven minutes of stoppages.
Giovanni Simeone had put the hosts in front at the Sardegna Arena, but Luis Alberto and Felipe Caicedo scored in injury time to turn it around.
Cagliari President Tommaso Giulini was “proud” of their performances even after the unbeaten run ended, but was not happy with Lazio scoring twice in over seven minutes of stoppages.
Giovanni Simeone had put the hosts in front at the Sardegna Arena, but Luis Alberto and Felipe Caicedo scored in injury time to turn it around.
“What I feel is proud. Proud of what Cagliari are achieving on the pitch this season and it doesn’t stop here,” the President told Sky Sport Italia.
“The lads are doing something extraordinary and that includes this evening. I thought the coach had the right approach and preparation, we were only beaten at the last second by a quality opponent.
“The explanation we were given was that the medical staff came on five times and it doesn’t matter how long they spend on the pitch, you add a minute. There were six substitutions, so they are 30 seconds each.
“It’s also only right that the seven minutes had expired, but there was a substitution during injury time, so that added another 30 seconds.
“Having said all that, we accept the rules as they are, but don’t agree with them, because this was a game without any VAR incidents, only one time did the medics stay on the pitch for over a minute, so it seems absurd to have seven and a half minutes of stoppages in a match like this.
“I would be curious to see how much actual playing time there was, because there were a lot of fouls, a lot of stoppages. I would compare it to an English Premier League match and wonder if it would’ve been broken up that much by the referee.
“That is what hurts the most, that 16,000 people cheered us on non-stop and didn’t deserve to see that seven minutes of stoppages awarded.”
Cagliari remain in fifth place on 29 points, with Roma on 32, Lazio 36, Juventus and Inter 39.
“I want the team to think exclusively about the next match. The collective was marvellous this evening, we faced it without many players such as Olsen, Cragno, Birsa, Pavoletti, Castro and more, all of whom can be in the starting XI,” continued Giulini.
“The bench becomes crucial at this level, with changes coming in, and that is where Lazio won it and we struggled.”