Radja Nainggolan admits he was ‘starting to get worried’ at his failure to score a goal this season, but broke that duck for Cagliari’s 2-2 draw at Sampdoria.
The Sardinians had taken the lead through Joao Pedro, then ferocious strikes from Bartosz Bereszynski and Manolo Gabbiadini turned it around.
Nainggolan’s effort took a deflection to equalise with the last kick of the game.
Radja Nainggolan admits he was ‘starting to get worried’ at his failure to score a goal this season, but broke that duck for Cagliari’s 2-2 draw at Sampdoria.
The Sardinians had taken the lead through Joao Pedro, then ferocious strikes from Bartosz Bereszynski and Manolo Gabbiadini turned it around.
Nainggolan’s effort took a deflection to equalise with the last kick of the game.
“Our first half performance was really good, you could tell we were enjoying our football and felt confident. We caused Sampdoria so many problems that they had to change their tactical system,” the Belgian told Sky Sport Italia.
“We conceded two silly goals with avoidable errors, we need to learn how to win ugly a bit more, get the basics done. We are on the right track, and getting this equaliser right at the end is a morale-booster.”
It was also Nainggolan’s first goal of the season, even though he only joined Cagliari in January.
“I was starting to get worried, because I’ve always scored at least one goal per season in my career. In any case, the important thing was to get the point, as we have found some momentum now and are marching towards safety.”
Since Leonardo Semplici took over, Cagliari have picked up seven points from three games, but Nainggolan spared a thought for his old Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco.
“This team has quality. It’s a pity what happened with Di Francesco, because we had been playing well in his last few games and didn’t deserve to lose.
“We’re applying a different tactical philosophy and it is starting to pay off.”