Cagliari pulled off a great 3-1 victory against Fiorentina on Sunday evening at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Serie A, to keep alive their hopes of staying up.
Duje Cop bagged a brace to put the visitors 2-0 up, before Alberto Gilardino pulled one back for the Viola. Then, Diego Farias scored a superb solo goal to put the game beyond doubt.
Here are our ratings. Leave a comment below if you disagree.
Fiorentina
Norberto Neto – 6 – Helpless
Couldn’t really do much about any of the goals, but did make some good saves to prevent the scoreline being even worse.
Manuel Pasqual – 6 – Adventurous
Was probably the only defender for the home side who put in a decent performance. Was constantly putting in dangerous crosses which weren’t taken advantage of by his team-mates.
Jose Maria Basanta – 5 – Failed
Failed to work in unison with his partner Savic and thus created a lot of space for the Cagliari attack.
Stefan Savic – 4.5 – Tough
Found it hard to deal with the quick movement of Cop and left him unmarked on quite a few occasions.
Nenad Tomovic – 4.5 – Undisciplined
Was at fault for the first goal and then was beaten far too easily by Farias for the last goal.
Borja Valero – 5.5 – Calm
Kept possession well for his side with a few neat, short passes. Created a few chances but didn’t live up to the performance he gave in the Europa League.
Milan Badelj – 5 – Complacent
Gave the ball away far too often and didn’t give the defence much protection.
David Pizarro – 5.5 – Leader
Tried to pick the side up but found it hard to lift the team. Was good in possession but didn’t do enough off the ball.
Mohamed Salah – 6 – Frustrated
Found it hard to have much of an impact on the game. Tried desperately to get things going for his side but was dealt with well.
Alberto Gilardino – 6 – Quiet
Although he scored a goal, the striker didn’t have many chances or touches throughout the game.
Alessandro Diamanti – 6 – Wasteful
Got into a few good shooting opportunities but could not hit the back of the net.
Substitutes
Juan Manuel Vargas – 6.5 – Impact
Came off the bench and made a great impact. Grabbed an assist for Gilardino’s goal and generally improved his side’s attacking play.
Joaquin – N/A
Mario Gomez – N/A
Cagliari
Zeljko Brkic – 6 – Consistent
Had a good game throughout. Made some good saves and was also very confident with high balls put into the box.
Francesco Pisano – 5.5 – Difficult
Found it hard to deal with Pasqual who was a constant attacking menace and then when Vargas came on had a new challenge.
Luca Ceppitelli – 6 – Disciplined
Made a good performance, but was missing for Gilardino’s goal. Was in the right place at the right time on quite a few occasions.
Modibo Diakite – 7 – Solid
Great performance from the French international. Was constantly dealing with anything put into his penalty area and showed great strength.
Danilo Avelar – 6 – Reserved
Didn’t venture forward too much but contained Diamanti well to thwart the attacks on the left hand side.
Daniele Dessena – 6.5 – Tireless
Got a kick in the head early on but soldiered on and actually won the duel against Borja Valero.
Albin Ekdal – 6.5 – Creator
Was good on the ball and created a few good opportunities for his side. Maybe could have done more in the defensive areas.
Joao Pedro – 6 – Average
Could have done more but also did the basics well. Didn’t do many things that caught the eye.
Paul-Jose M’Poku – 6.5 – Dangerous
Found himself in some great attacking positions and often took on the defender to excite the away fans
Duje Cop – 7.5 – Poacher
Found himself in great positions to score for both of his goals and could have had a hat-trick if it wasn’t for a great block from Savic.
Diego Farias – 8 – Difference
The Cagliari winger was the key man in the game. Grabbing two assists and then scoring a fantastic solo goal at the end to wrap up the points.
Substitutes
Nicola Murru – 6.5 – Defensive
Was sent on to deal with Salah and did a really effective job.
Marco Sau – N/A
Godfred Donsah – N/A
