Blistering Borriello showing he still has it with Cagliari

Date: 22nd September 2016 at 10:32am
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The 34-year-old has switched clubs regularly and has not been known for his prolific scoring throughout his career, but the much-maligned forward has hit a rich vein of form at the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign.

borriello

Perhaps better known for being a Casanova off the pitch than for any scoring exploits on it, Marco Borriello has managed to buck that trend and has commenced the season with his new club Cagliari in sensational style.

A journeyman throughout his career, the veteran has played for 13 clubs, including multiple spells at four of them. He has reached double digits in a Serie A season only four times, with his best tally coming in 2007-08 at Genoa, when he scored 19 goals in 35 matches, and also earned selection for Italy’s Euro 2008 squad.

After only playing eight matches in the 2014-15 season with Roma and Genoa, the centre-forward spent the following campaign with Carpi and then Atalanta. He scored a combined tally of eight goals in 27 matches with the Biancorossi and La Dea but he was left without a club.

Cagliari signed him on a free transfer during the summer, giving him a one-year contract and an option for a second, and so far he has taken his opportunities as well as forming a forward partnership with Sardinian native Marco Sau.

Tthe journeyman centre-forward has scored a phenomenal eight goals in just six games, including four goals in as many Serie A matches.

Borriello made his competitive debut for the Isolani on August 15 in a third-round clash of the Coppa Italia against Serie B side SPAL and the 34-year-old netted four goals in a 5-1 victory.

borriello-rugani

Since then he scored a consolation goal in the 3-1 defeat against Genoa in the league, started the comeback in the 2-2 draw against Roma, and collected a brace in the 3-0 win against Atalanta.

Throughout the season he has scored different kinds of goals such as volleys, headers, and tap-ins but his second goal against Atalanta was probably the most unlikely of goals. He stepped-up to take a free-kick from roughly 25 metres and curled it into the net despite Etrit Berisha’s best efforts to parry the ball away.

This is the best start to campaign for Borriello since his heroics in 2007-08, when he started the season with four goals in his first three games, including a hat-trick in a 3-2 win at home to Udinese.

The veteran striker isn’t just a traditional target man as there have been patches during matches in which he can move away from the penalty area, drop into the midfield or drift into the wings.

His only assist the season was a cross for Sau in the thrashing of SPAL but it doesn’t reflect on his ability to link-up with teammates and help create play. With Cagliari, he has shown that he can contribute well for the team and that he is not an opportunist striker who just waits for his chances.

It might be too early to suggest that his having an Indian summer in his career but on the basis of his current form, Borriello looks fitter and more determined than ever.

 

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