Cagliari succumbed to a 1-0 loss against Chievo at the Stadio Sant’Elia on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Dario Dainelli’s late second half header give the struggling Flying Donkeys a vital three points as they approach the final match-day of this season.
Heading into the match, these two sides were separated by nine points, with the hosts comfortably assured of safety whilst the visitors, on 30 points, were uncomfortably close to the drop zone–being just one ahead of 18th-placed Bologna. Yet, the last time they met back in early January, the match ended as a 0-0 stalemate that saw Mauricio Pinilla blow a chance to give the visiting Rossoblu a lead after missing a second-half penalty.
So, given the situation facing them, Chievo came out trying to get a foothold in the match early, with the Flying Donkeys having the first real effort on goal, but midfielder Perparim Hetemaj saw his attempt miss the target.
The hosts had a slight scare inside the first 15 minutes when a free kick was diverted towards goal by Rossoblu defender Davide Astori, but goalkeeper Vlada Avramov was quick to avert a possible and embarrassing own goal.
This appeared to wake up Cagliari, who had several chances in rapid succession but their opponents were alert and keen to keep a clean sheet for as long as possible. In addition, Eugenio Corini’s men had to make an early change after an injury to Gennaro Sardo that saw Nicolas Frey come in for the veteran Italian defender.
Another scare for the Flying Donkeys arrived around the half-hour mark, when Andrea Cossu lashed a strike that skidded just wide of Michael Agazzi’s post. Yet, despite a smattering of opportunities at both ends in the last third of the first half, it ended sans a goal for either team.
Early on in the second half, concerning scenes for the hosts as Victor Ibarbo went down with an injury, but the powerful Colombian striker was able to quickly shake it off and return to action as he attempted a header that was unable to find its way past Agazzi.
His opposing number Avramov had to be alert to deal with a handful of Chievo efforts, but as the game approached the hour mark, neither side were able to break the deadlock, despite the visitors having a free-kick opportunity that was wasted.
However, the feeling was that a goal would eventually come during the match, and it was the Flying Donkeys who got themselves onto the scores sheet with a vital goal from defender Dainelli, who rose highest to nod a corner past the Rossoblu goalkeeper with less than 20 minutes remaining in the game. Just a few minutes later, they could have seen their lead evaporate had it not been for a good save by Agazzi to keep Andrea Tabanelli from equalizing for the hosts.
Ibarbo thought he had a penalty shout after being held in the box, but the referee chose to wave away his complaints and handed him a yellow card for dissent. The last few minutes of the match saw some backs-to-the-wall defending on the part of Chievo as they hung on for all three points.
