Cagliari stay in drop zone after draw with 10-man Fiorentina
Milan, Jan 23, 2022 (AFP) - Cagliari missed the chance to climb out of the Serie A relegation zone on Sunday after drawing 1-1 with 10-man Fiorentina in a bad-tempered match in which both teams missed penalties.
Walter Mazzarri's side would have moved above Venezia into 17th place had they held on after Joao Pedro put them ahead just after half-time.
However Riccardo Sottil's leveller with 15 minutes left means Cagliari stay in the bottom three, a point from safety, while Fiorentina go sixth and seven points from the Champions League places.
Pedro struck his 10th league goal of the season when he thumped home a perfect header from Gaston Pereiro's corner, but after Alvaro Odriozola gave away a penalty for handball Pedro fluffed the chance to give his team a two-goal lead in the 68th minute.
Odriozola had been sent off following his protests for the awarding of the spot-kick, livid at what he thought was a push from Pedro which made him touch the ball with his arm.
However the away side, who were without star striker Dusan Vlahovic and missed a penalty of their own in the eighth minute, reacted positively to Pedro's miss and claimed a point through Cagliari old boy Sottil.
The 22-year-old burst into the area and drilled a perfect low finish past Boris Radunovic before cupping his ears at the livid home crowd.
Later on Sunday Napoli try to close the seven-point gap between them and league leaders Inter Milan in their derby with bottom side Salernitana.
AC Milan, who are five behind Inter in second place, host Champions League-chasing Juventus at the San Siro in the weekend's big match.