In Cagliari, with the Sardinian crowd packed into the Unipol Domus, the early Serie A season’s surprise side stood firm against Juventus. A 1-1 draw preserved Cagliari’s place in fourth, three points behind leaders Inter, while Juventus slipped to eighth and now sit six points off the summit.
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Fabio Pisacane’s Cagliari made the evening difficult from the outset, defending deep and limiting Juventus to little before the interval. Nico Gonzalez had the visitors’ clearest early opening after 15 minutes, steering a knee-high finish narrowly wide from Weston McKennie’s delivery.
Cagliari then made their first meaningful attack count. Daniele Maldini broke into the area and saw an attempted combination break down, but Paul Mendy recovered the loose ball and returned it across goal for Maldini to finish from close range.
The goal continued an exceptional spell for Maldini, who has scored in each of the last four league rounds. Those four strikes have brought seven points to Cagliari’s campaign.
Juventus had few other first-half answers. Harry Winks struck powerfully from a central position, only for Guglielmo Vicario to push the effort behind with his fingertips.
Luciano Spalletti had attempted to alter Juventus’ shape during the first half, moving towards a 4-4-1-1 with Gonzalez operating behind an isolated Randal Kolo Muani. The change did not produce the desired breakthrough, and the Juventus coach reshuffled again at half-time.
McKennie and Francisco Conceicao were withdrawn for Kerim Alajbegovic and Edon Zhegrova. The latter immediately gave Juventus a more threatening edge: in roughly 20 minutes, the Kosovo international produced four attempts, either denied by Elia Caprile or sent narrowly off target. Caprile was later named man of the match.
Cagliari had resisted a sustained second-half siege when Juventus finally found their equaliser in the 81st minute. Alajbegovic delivered an accurate cross from the left, and Kolo Muani headed in for his first Serie A goal of the season in Juventus colours.
The visitors pressed for a winner as Cagliari tired. Another Alajbegovic cross found Kolo Muani, whose attempt struck the crossbar; Nick Woltemade then headed the rebound from close range, but Caprile gathered it. The German had been introduced as another late attacking option.
Tempers carried into the final whistle. Pisacane and Spalletti confronted each other beside the pitch after the match and were both sent off.
