Cagliari thrashed relegated Parma in this bottom of the table clash at the Stadio Sant’Elia on Monday, securing a 4-0 victory which maintained the Sardinians’ slim hopes of avoiding the drop.
The Rossoblu dominated from kick-off, with Albin Ekdal setting them on their way to a crushing victory within the first five minutes. The excellent midfield pairing of Diego Farias and Jose-Paul M’Poku both got on the score sheet before half-time as Cagliari killed the game off early on. A well worked goal from Duje Cop capped a dominant performance for Cagliari.
Cagliari got off to a perfect start. An early corner was not dealt with and Luca Ceppitelli was allowed a free header, knocking it down for Ekdal to fire into the back of the net. The sloppy Parma defending was merely a sign of things to come, as Cagliari threatened to score with every attack in the early exchanges.
Indeed, it was 2-0 with only a quarter of an hour on the clock. The magnificent M’Poku wrestled control of the ball in midfield before releasing a fine pass for Farias. An incredible first touch took the ball out of reach of the retreating Zouhair Feddal and leave him one-on-one. Farias made no mistake as he stroked it past the goalkeeper, capping a fine counter attack.
Parma seemed shell-shocked but finally had a chance of note. A neat interchange between Cristobal Jorquera and Jose Mauri resulted in a back-heel flick from the latter and a powerful shot from the former, although the strike was straight at Zeljko Brkic.
Silvestre Varela was looking dangerous for Parma and his cross fell to Massimo Coda, who mishit his effort into the path of Abdelkader Ghezzal. Somehow the Algerian could only stab the ball wide.
Whilst Varela was proving influential for the away side, M’Poku and Danilo Avelar were linking up to great effect for the home side. The Brazilian collected the ball in midfield and burst forward before cutting across to the onrushing M’Poku. Andrea Costa got a foot to the ball but couldn’t prevent it reaching it’s target. To add insult to injury, M’Poku placed the ball through the defender’s legs and into the back of the net.
It should have been 4-0 on the stroke of half-time. Firstly, Farias burst into the box and showed quick feet to evade tackles, before seeing his shot blocked. From the resulting corner, Alessandro Iacobucci performed two close-range blocks before Cop somehow blazed wide with the goal gaping.
Parma regrouped after half-time and almost pulled one back in style. A cross-field pass was met by a stunning volley out left from Massimo Gobbi. The midfielder showed excellent technique to hit it across his body, his shot driven inches wide.
Cagliari put the game beyond doubt on the hour mark as M’Poku and Avelar linked up to devastating effect once again. M’Poku received the ball in midfield before releasing Avelar out wide with a slide-rule pass. Avelar skipped past a weary challenge from the disappointing Costa and cut back for the onrushing Cop to side-foot into the bottom corner.
Parma hadn’t given up hope however, laying siege to Cagliari’s net but to no avail. Shots from Raffaele Paladino and Gobbi both saw long range shots whistle wide as Parma couldn’t force their way through.
Despite a few late scares, Cagliari held on for a resounding victory.
