Cagliari and Inter met at the Unipol Domus on Saturday evening, and the visitors took all three points thanks to a first-half strike from Hakan Calhanoglu. The 22nd-minute goal at this stage of the Serie A season set the tone for what followed, though the match itself rarely threatened to spin out of control. Inter held firm after their early advantage, and by then the result looked increasingly inevitable.
Calhanoglu found the net in the ninth minute, and that proved to be the decisive moment. Inter came away with a narrow victory, but the statistics tell a different story about who really dominated proceedings. Possession sat at 65 per cent for the visitors, and their expected goals figure of 3.91 made clear how many chances they created without converting them.
Cagliari struggled to find rhythm in the final third, managing only 0.23 shot accuracy compared to Inter's 0.45. They created no big chances all evening, and the eight shots off target did little to trouble the goalkeeper. Inter, meanwhile, registered seven shots on target across the 90 minutes, though only one found the back of the net.
The match saw a flurry of changes in the second half, with Cagliari making three substitutions around the 57th minute. Inter responded with their own trio of changes at 65 minutes, bringing on Calhanoglu after he had opened the scoring. Akanji came off for Inter in the 68th minute, and Deiola was withdrawn for Cagliari eight minutes before the end.
Discipline was generally maintained, with yellow cards for Akanji early on and Deiola after the break. Kevin picked up a caution in the 88th minute as the game wound down. Both sides kept their red cards at zero, and the match concluded without further incident.
The result leaves Inter top of the table with 87 points from 38 games, while Cagliari remain in 14th place on 43 points. The visitors have now extended their unbeaten run against the Sardinians, and their goal difference continues to reflect their dominance in these fixtures. Cagliari will need to improve their finishing if they hope to climb away from the middle of the pack.
