JAKARTA - Sassuolo was momentarily behind the goal when defender Jay Idzes handball resulted in a penalty. Even though they were behind first, Sassuolo still managed to beat Cagliari 2-1 in an Italian Serie A match at the Mapei-Citta del Tricolore Stadium, Saturday, April 4, 2026 WIB.
Idzes remains the first choice of coach Fabio Grosso even though he has to travel far after strengthening the Indonesian national team in the international match against St. Kitts & Nevis and Bulgaria. As soon as he finished the two matches, Idzes immediately returned to Italy to prepare for the Serie A.
Even though he had to travel a long way from Indonesia to Europe with the destination of Italy, Idzes still showed readiness and maximum performance. This is what makes Grosso still give confidence to the captain of the Indonesian national team to stand at the heart of the Sassuolo defense. In fact, he played full in the match.
On the other hand, his tandem, Tarik Muharemovic who led Bosnia-Herzegovina to qualify for the 2026 World Cup by eliminating Italy was not played. Muharemovic still sat on the bench, but he did not appear. Likewise, pillar players such as Armand Lauriente and Andrea Pinamonti who were the decisive victory of Sassuolo did not play full.
The first appearance after the end of the international match break was satisfactory for I Neroverdi. They were able to get three points which made Sassuolo stay in the middle of the table. Now, Sassuolo managed to occupy the 10th position with 39 points. The same as Udinese, but Sassuolo has a goal difference.
Meanwhile, Cagliari is still struggling at the bottom of the table after failing to add points. They are in 15th place with 30 points. The defeat makes Cagliari only three points ahead of Lecce who are in the relegation zone.
The match itself was quite tight and a draw. Sassuolo started the match with a good opportunity through midfielder Kristian Thorstvedt. Only his volley shot was still wide. Cagliari also responded with an attack that threatened the Sassuolo goal. However, the efforts of attacking midfielder Sebastiano Esposito were not successful.
After failing to finish a number of opportunities, Cagliari finally managed to take the lead when they got a penalty. The referee gave a penalty following Idzes' foul for handball.
The referee reviewed the incident via VAR. As a result, Idzes was declared to have touched the ball so the referee pointed to the white spot. The penalty was executed by Esposito even though the tip of the finger of goalkeeper Arijanet Muric actually touched the ball.
The goal created in the 30th minute gave Cagliari a 1-0 lead. No more goals were created even though Sassuolo almost equalized. Including a good opportunity from Lauriente. But this free kick was a little high over the crossbar. Cagliari's one-goal lead did not change until the first half was over.
Entering the second half, Sassuolo immediately hit with an attacking game. Their efforts were not in vain because the match was only five minutes, Sassuolo could break through the visiting team's goal through Ulisses Garcia.
This goal started from a corner kick from Sassuolo which was anticipated by defender Yerry Mina. He intended to throw the ball but instead it was received by Garcia.
The Swiss player had control of the ball and then fired a half-volley that hit the Cagliari goal. This was Garcia's first goal since he was recruited from Marseille last January.
The score changed 1-1 which made Sassuolo more excited to press the Cagliari defense. At least, the hosts got the opportunity to turn the tide through Domenico Berardi and even Luca Lipani managed to break the opponent's goal. Only that goal was annulled because he was in an offside position when receiving the ball from Thorstvedt.
After many failed attempts, striker Andrea Pinamonti finally managed to break the deadlock in the 78th minute. Receiving the ball from Darryl Bakola, he showed off his ball-dominating skills by turning his back on the goal. Pinamonti then turned to face the goal and immediately fired a hard shot that defeated goalkeeper Elia Caprile.
The score changed 2-1 for Sassuolo. There were no additional goals and from that victory, Sassuolo managed to get three important points.
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