Joao Pedro gave Cagliari the lead but Benevento turned the match around right before half-time through goals by Marco Sau and Alessandro Tuia.
Liveblog: Serie A Wk16 Midweek Madness | Football Italia (football-italia.net)
Joao Pedro gave Cagliari the lead but Benevento turned the match around right before half-time through goals by Marco Sau and Alessandro Tuia.
Liveblog: Serie A Wk16 Midweek Madness | Football Italia (football-italia.net)
The Sardinians threw Radja Nainggolan straight into the starting XI to begin his third stint at the club after another loan from Inter, but Charalampos Lykogiannis was suspended, with Diego Godin, Marko Rog, Adam Ounas, Andrea Carboni and Paolo Faragòinjured. Riccardo Improta had to improvise as a Benevento full-back, as Luca Caldirola, Iago Falque, Gaetano Letizia and Gabriele Moncini missed out, with Christian Maggio only fit for the bench.
Cagliari were rapid out of the blocks and Leonardo Pavoletti thought he had given the Rossoblu an early lead, but the referee blew his whistle for a foul.
After a quick look at the pictures from VAR, Benevento were awarded a foul. But the intensity didn’t drop and with two yellow cards and a sending off for a Cagliari member of staff painted the picture in the first five minutes.
A through ball from Gianluca Lapadula, looking for Marco Sau, was saved by Alessio Cragno, who fumbled and dived after it.
He brought down Lapadula and the referee pointed to the spot, but overturned the decision after having consulted with VAR.
Sau was later through on goal and dinked his former teammate Cragno, but the ball went wide. The first corner of the match was awarded Benevento, but it was Cagliari who scored on their first.
Cagliari cleared and countered with Nainggolan, who was all alone in the middle and a daft lob from the halfway line stretched the Streghe goalkeeper and the home side could move up for their first corner.
Pavoletti then went up unchallenged and his powerful header found Brazilian teammate Joao Pedro, who showed his poacher abilities with an instinctual finish into the bottom corner.
Benevento continued in their usual style, pushing for an equaliser, but Cagliari held out and created chances too.
Some concern for the visitors when captain Schiattarella went down with a shoulder injury, but after receiving treatment, the captain was back on the pitch.
Nainggolan had a few attempts from the edge of the area and Cagliari looked comfortable, but Eusebio Di Francesco had to see them squander the lead when Schiattarella found former Rossoblu Sau with a ball over the top.
The Sardinian timed his run perfectly and beat Cragno with a first-time finish. The former Cagliari player didn’t celebrate the goal, but he could three minutes later.
Alessandro Tuia rose up on a cross from the right and knocked the ball off the far post and into the back of the net. Within minutes, the visitor had turned things around.
Cagliari have enjoyed most of the possession, but Benevento have been dangerous going forward and Pippo Inzaghi’s men continue to impress in the top tier.
Cagliari 1-2 Benevento (Half-Time)
Joao Pedro 20 (C), Sau 41 (B), Tuia 43 (B)
Cagliari (4-2-3-1): Cragno; Zappa, Ceppitelli, Walukiewicz, Tripaldelli; Marin, Caligara; Nández, Nainggolan, Pedro; Pavoletti
Benevento (4-3-2-1): Montipò, Improta, Tuia, Glik, Barba; Hetemaj, Schiattarella, Ionita; Insigne, Lapadula; Sau
Referee: Abbattista