Var (not) the star of the show in Cagliari; Lecce isn’t happy about it
The most talked-about moment of the Cagliari-Lecce match came right at the end. The blame, however, may not have lain solely with the referee, but also with decisions that could end up affecting the course of the entire season. The contact between Gagliardini and N’Dri looked like a penalty kick even during the live broadcast, and the VAR footage further reinforced this impression. Despite this, Sacchi was not called to the monitor. This was yet another incident tied to the approach taken by Orsato, the merits and consequences of which will need to be evaluated.
N’Dri charged at Gagliardini, who initially extended his left leg but failed to make contact with the ball. Even the slightest touch on the ball would not have changed the nature of the incident. The former Inter and Monza player then made a further movement with the same leg, coming into contact with the Lecce opponent. N’Dri seemed poised to fall, but the contact was nonetheless evident. Doubts therefore remain regarding the VAR’s failure to intervene and the decision not to ask Sacchi to review the incident.
A controversial incident, one that has left several questions unanswered and which Di Francesco commented on with a certain bitterness. “It could have been reviewed differently and more thoroughly, because there was contact. The referee, however, made his call. That said—and I’ll say it again—Cagliari deserved the win. We made silly mistakes; we shot ourselves in the foot. A team like ours simply must have that competitive fire,” said the Lecce coach.
Beyond the refereeing controversy, the match delivered a result that rewarded Pisacane’s Cagliari, which secured three precious points thanks to Daniel Maldini’s goal in the 29th minute. The son of a former player, who arrived in Sardinia this summer, broke the deadlock with a header off a corner kick, giving the Rossoblù their first home goal of the season and lifting the team to ninth place in the standings. This result is doubly significant, given the difficulties encountered in the closing minutes as Lecce pushed forward in search of an equalizer.
The victory was hard-fought, as evidenced by the chances created by the Salento side throughout the match. In the 7th minute, Stulic had already found himself alone in front of Caprile but missed the target spectacularly, and in the closing minutes, even Falcone pushed into the opponent’s box in a desperate attempt to snatch the equalizer. Pisacane’s defensive wall held firm, however, despite the scrambles in the Rossoblù penalty area during the six minutes of stoppage time.
