After only five league games, new Cagliari boss Davide Nicola may already be preparing for a rescue mission similar to the one he produced only months prior when at the Empoli helm. After starting with two draws, the Isolani have found themselves all at sea thereafter, failing to register a goal in three following defeats.
They had clearly identified aerial weakness in the home side, with successive corners inside the opening five minutes causing all sorts of problems.
First, it was Atalanta loanee Piccoli who tested Zion Suzuki’s shot stopping, before Yerry Mina rammed the ball home on the goalline after Sebastiano Luperto’s header cannonned off the post. Unfortunately for Mina, who himself is usually the one causing aerial chaos, his big toe was deemed to be offside leaving the scores level.
After a mediocre start in their first season back in the big time, Parma once again showed their naivety in defending crosses and suffered from repeat mistakes, allowing Nadir Zortea to glance home Zito Luvumbo’s delivery from the left before the break.
With eight goals in five Serie A games so far, the home side were always likely to throw everything in hopes of an equaliser, which duly arrived through Romanian forward Man. After spurning a glorious opportunity moments prior when dragging wide, he made no mistake at the second attempt hammering Woyo Coulibaly’s cutback home.
Both sides knew victory could provide the catalyst for their season, meaning the closing end-to-end nature was more akin to a basketball game.
Piccoli did in fact have the ball in the net before the linesman's flag intervened once more, but substitute Răzvan Marin was on hand to fire home what he thought was a winner, curling home from distance to plant his effort in the top corner.
What ensued thereafter was nothing short of incredible, with Hernani levelling from the penalty spot to get off the mark for the season, seconds before Cagliari went up the other end from the resulting kick-off to reclaim the lead once more as Piccoli finally struck gold to break home fans hearts.
That dramatic winner sees Cagliari move level on points with the defeat Parma just above the Serie A drop zone.
Flashscore Player of the Match: Nadir Zortea (Cagliari)
