Serie A | Cagliari 1-0 Cremonese: Esposito decides massive relegation battle

Sebastiano Esposito’s header proved enough to give Cagliari a huge push up the table in this relegation dogfight, leaving Cremonese in the bottom three.

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This was a pure battle to avoid relegation, with three points separating the Sardinians in 16^th from their visitors in 17^th place. Coming off four consecutive defeats, Cagliari missed Leonardo Pavoletti, Riyad Idrissi and Mattia Felici, but Alberto Dossena returned from suspension.

Marco Giampaolo had seen improvements since taking the Cremonese job, beating Parma and narrowly losing 2-1 to Bologna. Youssef Maleh sat out a ban, with Jamie Vardy, Morten Thorsby, Faris Moumbagna and Michele Collocolo injured, though Antonio Sanabria was now fit for the bench. Federico Baschirotto made his comeback and Sebastiano Luperto faced his former club.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Marco Palestra’s strike was palmed out from under the bar in the opening minutes, but David Okereke wasted a golden opportunity when slipping and failing to make the most of the inspired Federico Bonazzoli slide-rule pass that sent him clear.

Okereke’s glancing header on a short corner also tested Elia Caprile and Cagliari lost Luca Mazzitelli to a muscular injury on the half-hour mark.

Sebastiano Esposito won it back in midfield and saw his counter-attack charged down by Sebastiano Luperto, while Bonazzoli drilled wide after the restart from a promising position.

Cagliari took the lead when substitute Ze Pedro made an immediate impact, sending his cross to the back post for Esposito to nod into the ground, the awkward bounce beating Emil Audero from a tricky angle.

It was so nearly 2-0 when Audero made a fantastic reaction save on Alessandro Deiola’s header from six yards, and there was a special moment as Andrea Belotti made his return after surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Cagliari 1-0 Cremonese

Esposito 63 (Ca)

11-04-2026 14:00

MatchDay 32

Unipol Domus (Sardegna Arena)

Cagliari

Cremonese

Live

1 - 0

Player statistic

1st half

4'

Filippo Terracciano

2nd half

Michel Adopo		62'
Sebastiano Esposito (Assist: Zé Pedro)		63'

Cagliari

Cremonese

Starting lineups

1

Elia Caprile

Goalkeeper

33

Adam Obert

Defender

15

Juan Rodríguez

Defender

89'

2

Marco Palestra

Defender

26

Yerry Mina

Defender

14

Alessandro Deiola

Midfielder

10

Gianluca Gaetano

Midfielder

4

Luca Mazzitelli

Midfielder

31'

90

Michael Folorunsho

Midfielder

61'

29

Gennaro Borrelli

Attacker

61'

94

Sebastiano Esposito

Attacker

88'

1

Emil Audero

Goalkeeper

6

Federico Baschirotto

Defender

3

Giuseppe Pezzella

Defender

22

Romano Floriani Mussolini

Defender

68'

5

Sebastiano Luperto

Defender

33

Alberto Grassi

Midfielder

24

Filippo Terracciano

Midfielder

73'

27

Jari Vandeputte

Midfielder

68'

38

Warren Bondo

Midfielder

78'

77

David Okereke

Attacker

78'

90

Federico Bonazzoli

Attacker

Substitutes

28

Gabriele Zappa

Defender

24

Giuseppe Ciocci

Goalkeeper

25

Ibrahim Sulemana

Midfielder

9

Semih Kılıçsoy

Attacker

12

Alen Sherri

Goalkeeper

27

Joseph Liteta

Midfielder

37

Yael Trepy

Attacker

20

Agustín Albarracín

Midfielder

18

Othniel Raterink

Midfielder

8

Michel Adopo

Midfielder

31'

32

Zé Pedro

Defender

61'

31

Paul Mendy

Attacker

61'

19

Andrea Belotti

Attacker

88'

22

Alberto Dossena

Defender

89'

69

Lapo Nava

Goalkeeper

16

Marco Silvestri

Goalkeeper

23

Federico Ceccherini

Defender

15

Matteo Bianchetti

Defender

55

Francesco Folino

Defender

30

Mika Faye

Defender

21

Simone Lottici Tessadri

Midfielder

99

Antonio Sanabria

Attacker

68'

32

Martín Payero

Midfielder

68'

4

Tommaso Barbieri

Defender

73'

9

Milan Djuric

Attacker

78'

7

Alessio Zerbin

Attacker

78'