Cagliari beat Sampdoria for the second time in three days, albeit only 2-1, to set up a Coppa Italia Round of 16 clash with Inter.
Alberto Cerri had come off the bench to score the winner in a 4-3 thriller against Samp in Serie A on Monday evening, but these two teams met again just three days later.
Cagliari resumed from exactly where they left off, a Cerri header from close range in off the underside of the crossbar after just seven minutes.
Cagliari beat Sampdoria for the second time in three days, albeit only 2-1, to set up a Coppa Italia Round of 16 clash with Inter.
Alberto Cerri had come off the bench to score the winner in a 4-3 thriller against Samp in Serie A on Monday evening, but these two teams met again just three days later.
Cagliari resumed from exactly where they left off, a Cerri header from close range in off the underside of the crossbar after just seven minutes.
The Sardinians came close to a second, as Charalampos Lykogiannis flashed a dangerous ball across the face of goal on the counter.
They had to wait until after the restart for a second, as Daniele Ragatzu sprung the offside trap on an Artur Ionita reverse pass and drilled home from a tight angle across the goalkeeper.
Cagliari were dominant, but Gianluca Caprari fired just wide from the edge of the box, while Robin Olsen had his gloves stung by Karol Linetty.
Claudio Ranieri finally introduced Manolo Gabbiadini at the 85th minute and he promptly scored two minutes later. It was a smart control and turn in from just inside the area into the far bottom corner.
Suddenly, the tie was wide open again and Samp were fired up, as Ronaldo Vieira forced a save from Olsen, Thorsby turned over from close range and Olsen smothered another Gabbiadini strike.
The Sardinians held on and will face Radja Nainggolan’s old club Inter in the Round of 16.
Cagliari 2-1 Sampdoria
Cerri 7 (C), Ragatzu 48 (C), Gabbiadini 87 (S)