Cagliari 0-1 Inter : Çalhanoğlu Goal Gives Chivu’s Side Serie A Win
Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s early strike was enough to see Inter beat Cagliari 1-0, though the scoreline barely tells the story of a game the visitors utterly dominated.
Inter racked up an expected goals tally of 3.8 and had 30 shots to Cagliari’s 10, taking control of possession and territory from the first whistle.
Cristian Chivu’s side led inside nine minutes, Çalhanoğlu finishing off a move started by Nicolò Barella. From there Inter continued to pour forward, creating chance after chance without adding to their tally.
Alessandro Bastoni was central to that dominance. The defender was rated the man of the match, contributing four key passes as he pushed forward from the back to break down a stubborn Cagliari defence.
Fabio Pisacane made three changes inside the first 15 minutes of the second half in search of a response, but his side could not muster a single shot on target all afternoon.
At the other end, Inter’s defence was untroubled, goalkeeper Josep Martínez left without a save to make as his side kept a clean sheet. The result lifts them to sixth in the table on three points as they continue to chase a place in the playoff positions.
Inter’s control was reflected across the statistics: 65% possession to Cagliari’s 35%, and a 91% pass completion rate from 678 attempts, compared to 84% from Cagliari’s 362.
The result also extended Inter’s dominance of this fixture. They have now won 19 of the 29 meetings between the sides, with Cagliari managing only four victories.
Inter head into the next round in confident form, while Cagliari will look to rethink their approach as they attempt to move away from the bottom half of the table.
