Cagliari turned the game around to beat Torino 3-2 in a thriller with Nicolas Viola’s free kick, Jose Luis Palomino and a clumsy Saul Coco own goal.
The mood was shifting at both clubs following recent results. The Sardinians found their feet with a 3-2 win at Parma and 1-1 draw away to Juventus, while Jakub Jankto, Leonardo Pavoletti and Adam Obert were the only remaining absentees. Toro went from Serie A leaders to crisis after back-to-back 3-2 defeats to Lazio and Inter. More importantly, they lost Duvan Zapata for the season to a torn ACL, joining Borja Sosa, Ivan Ilic, Perr Schuurs and Zanos Savva on the treatment table. In addition, Adrien Tameze and Marcus Pedersen had flu and Guillermo Maripan was suspended.
See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.
Nicolas Viola saw his free kick pushed out from under the crossbar and Samuele Ricci failed to make the most of a Che Adams knock-down from 12 yards.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic’s cheap giveaway risked gifting Cagliari a goal, as first Antoine Makoumbou’s effort was charged down, then Yerry Mina blasted into the net only after shoving Tonny Sanabria off the ball.
Cagliari did take the lead when Viola hit a screamer of a free kick from the edge of the area that burst through the wall and bounced in off a weak Milinkovic-Savic, who seemed to be taken by surprise.
It did not last long, because Torino equalised moments later when Sanabria rose to meet the Valentin Lazaro corner kick. He ran to the bench so he could celebrate holding up teammate Duvan Zapata’s jersey.
Roberto Piccoli couldn’t keep his header down from a Gabriele Zappa cross, while Milinkovic-Savic denied Viola one-on-one at the near post.
Instead, it was Torino who turned the game around with an absolute screamer from Karol Linetty that bent Simone Scuffet’s hand back with its sheer ferocity from outside the box. It was an ideal way to celebrate becoming the new Toro captain.
Scuffet did manage to palm a Saul Coco long-range free kick over the bar, but Cagliari got back on level terms thanks to their defenders. Sebastiano Luperto flicked on the Razvan Marin corner for Jose Luis Palomino’s header from four yards.
The Sardinians turned the game around again moments later, as Roberto Piccoli’s pull-back from the by-line deflected into his own net off Saul Coco.
Torino tried to pump crosses into the box and get shots away, earning a series of corners and Che Adams forcing a great Scuffet reaction save with his header from close range, but it was their third consecutive defeat, all of them by a 3-2 scoreline.
Cagliari 3-2 Torino
Viola 38 (C), Sanabria 41 (T), Linetty 55 (T), Palomino 74 (C), Coco og 78 (C)
Player statistic
| 14' |  |
Saúl Coco | ||
| Nicolas Viola |  |
38' | ||
| 41' | |
Antonio Sanabria (Assist: Valentino Lazaro) | ||
| 45+2' | |
Valentino Lazaro |
| 54' | |
Adam Masina | ||
| 55' | |
Karol Linetty (Assist: Nikola Vlasic) | ||
| Michel Adopo | |
60' | ||
| José Luis Palomino (Assist: Sebastiano Luperto) |
|
74' | ||
| Saúl Coco |  |
78' |
Match statistic
