Cagliari Thumps Torino-Too Little Too Late?

By: Jeremy | March 16th, 2008

An interesting day in Serie A, atleast at the bottom of the table. When last weeks results seemed to seperate the bottom teams atleast a little bit, this weekend seemed to bring them closer together. There are still 6 teams who have serious relegation problems and a couple others(Torino and Siena) who are probably safe, but still suck like as bad as the relegation teams in my opinion.

Speaking of Torino, they laid an easter egg in Sardinia today and showed why they are such a horrible road team, but in reality while they got thumped 3-0 thanks to the Polish wonderkid, Robert Acquafresca, and stud goalie, Marco Storari, the breaks seemed to go Cagliaris way and what could have been a closer game was really over at halftime.

Cagliari coming in knew this was another critical week and that being at home meant three points was a must. Ballardini cant seem to make up his mind whether this team can avoid relegation but with his club in such a positive mood, the optimism of the players rubs off on him and he was again telling everyone that the team can avoid the drop. Maybe he is just loving life in Sardinia during a home week but anything to keep the players motiviated, right?

One interesting note is that Ballardini clearly does not like Foggias effort. He has questioned his form and he did not see action until the 77th minute today. While the team seemed to play fine without him, he is still an important piece of the puzzle and it is a must that he either gets his ass in shape to play a full 90 minutes or whatever Ballardini has against him must be put in the past for the upcoming games against the likes of Milan, Roma, Inter, and Fiorentina. We need our best players on the pitch for a full ninety and Foggia is one of them.

Without Foggia today, Cagliari still played great and put the pressure on from the beginning with Acquafresca beautifully assisting on a goal by Jeda. The next sequence of events helped win the game for Cagliari as the breaks continue to come for them in the home matches. Parola handles the ball for Cagliari, Torino is given a penalty kick, and Storari comes up big with a save. Great plays seem to create some luck and sure enough just a minute later when Barone was called for a bogus handball in the area, Acquafresca steps up and scores from the spot. 2-0 and halftime really the game was only a formality.

The second half brought the third goal from Acquafresca on a beautiful strike from just inside the penalty area. The goalie had no chance. Torino was out of it after it was 2-0 and this goal was just more proof that Acquafresca is going to be a great striker someday. If Cagliari can stay up, they might get another year or two out of him before he is transferred but he again showed why he is an up and coming Serie A player. I just wish they could have found him more playing time early in the season to get his confidence. It might just be too little too late at this point. It was great to see Matri get some action in the 70th minute and Foggia coming in for Acquafresca the 77th minute was just a way to give the crowd a chance to cheer their new hero.

With Cagliaris form as of late, this win was not a surprise. The margin just indicated the breaks went Cagliaris way, but at home against a team no more talented then them, a win was a must and they in essence held serve in their battle to avoid relegation. However, with the other results this weekend, they are still six points from safety. They were in a similar position going into their game against Catania and crapped out. Now after a big win, they are now where they were two weeks ago and obviously there are now two less weeks to make up the points. We have to step up against the big clubs we will soon play.

Whenever you win, there is so much more positivity. I take great pride in being a fan of this team which still does not seem to quit. There are now 10 weeks left and they get another home match against an inconsistent Atalanta side who lost a couple of weeks ago on the road to the Torino team Cagliari just crushed. I still cant believe Atalanta is in a better position in the table then a team like Palermo. I feel that Cagliari can beat Atalanta at home, but I would want no part of Palermo.

The schedule has lined up pretty well for a midweek game at home against a beatable opponent. With the Sampdoria, Milan, Roma, triumverate coming up next, points will be hard to come by, but todays win against Torino was great. Lets enjoy it and look forward to the midweek clash and hopefully another three points at home. Ill have an updated relegation analysis for everyone to read to be posted shortly.

Rejoice Cagliari fans. We are not done yet.