Cagliari saw off Arezzo 1-0 in the Coppa Italia Round of 64 on Thursday evening. The hosts progressed at the expense of their opponents after a match that swung on a single spot-kick and a late dismissal. A. Deiola converted the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the twenty-third minute.
And here's the thing — Cagliari won with less possession. Arezzo controlled 58 per cent of the ball but could not find the net. The visitors had more attacks (84 to 76) and more total passes (462 to 341), yet their expected goals figure sat at just 0.62. To be fair, they could not turn dominance into a chance worth taking.
The turning point came when VAR cancelled a penalty for Mattia Sala at the sixty-fifth minute. Arezzo had been pushing and thought they had been fouled in the box, but the review went the other way. By then Cagliari had already done enough to stay ahead, and the incident shifted momentum in their favour.
Arezzo were reduced to ten men in the closing stages. F. Pisacane received a red card in the ninety-eighth minute, while Daniel Maldini was also shown yellow in the same moment. The visitors had already brought on six substitutes by that point, including M. Gilli, Y. Trepy and L. Chierico, so the game was already in a different rhythm.
Cagliari's statistics tell a different story. They registered 1.55 expected goals against 0.62 for Arezzo, and their three shots on target came from ten attempts inside the penalty area. The visitors offered more crosses (18 to 13) and won the same number of aerial duels (20 each), but their shots accuracy sat at 17 per cent. Three on target and ten off target — chances went begging.
The result means Cagliari progress in the Cup while Arezzo's summer form takes a hit. The visitors had beaten Brescia 2-0 in their most recent outing, but this was a different proposition. The scoreline does not fully reflect the balance of the game, but the red card and the VAR decision did.