Serie A | Verona 0-2 Cagliari: Pavoletti practically guarantees safety | OneFootball

Veteran striker Leonardo Pavoletti and a late Alessandro Deiola counter gave Cagliari a potentially decisive victory for their Serie A safety, while Daniele Ghilardi saw red for Verona.

This was a huge fixture between two teams eager to make the definitive leap away from the drop zone. Both were coming off defeats, Hellas succumbing 1-0 to Roma with Pawel Dawidowicz, Casper Tengstedt and Abdou Harroui injured. The Sardinians lost Yerry Mina and had Roberto Piccoli suspended, but Alessandro Deiola returned to the squad after one point from three rounds.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Cagliari were dangerous on the counter-attack, Razvan Marin sending Zito Luvumbo clear on goal, forcing Lorenzo Montipò to come sprinting out to parry with his legs.

Verona lost Tomas Suslov too in the opening half-hour, as he limped off following treatment.

VERONA, ITALY – APRIL 28: Amin Sarr of Verona tries to control the ball under pressure from Sebastiano Luperto of Cagliari during the Serie A match between Verona and Cagliari at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on April 28, 2025 in Verona, Italy. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)

Michel Adopo nodded a Tommaso Augello corner over the bar and Cagliari took a deserved lead when Diego Coppola and Daniele Ghilardi failed to intercept the Luvumbo cross, finding veteran Leonardo Pavoletti at the far post.

Elia Caprile beat away the Ondrej Duda free kick and Lambourde’s volley was off target, but Verona finished the match down to 10 men when Ghilardi was shown a straight red card for his late, high and wild tackle on Gianluca Gaetano.

Cagliari added a second deep into stoppages with a classic counter-attack, as Gaetano ran from his own half and drew out the goalkeeper, generously rolling across for Deiola’s tap-in at the back post.

Verona 0-2 Cagliari

Pavoletti 30 (C), Deiola 93 (C)

Sent off: Ghilardi 85 (V)