Roma Miss Chance to Catch Inter After Costly Defeat to Cagliari

AS Roma suffered their second consecutive Serie A setback, falling 1–0 away to Cagliari. The Giallorossi once again struggled in front of goal and failed to capitalise on a match that could have helped them close the gap on league leaders Inter Milan.
With striker Artem Dovbyk still sidelined through injury, the attacking issues in Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have become increasingly apparent. Roma have now gone two straight league matches without scoring — a worrying trend at a decisive stage of the season.
The turning point came in the 53rd minute, when Zeki Çelik was sent off. Until that moment, the contest had been uneventful but evenly balanced. However, once reduced to ten men, Roma were forced to weather sustained pressure from the hosts. Gianluca Gaetano finally broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute, delivering the only goal of the match and securing a vital victory for Cagliari.
2025-26, Italy - Serie A
Cagliari - AS Roma 1:0 (0:0)
Goals: Gaetano G., 82 (1:0)
Cagliari: Caprile; Palestra (Di Pardo, 92); Luperto; Rodríguez J.; Zappa (Prati, 69); Obert (Idrissi, 77); Adopo; Deiola; Folorunsho (Kılıçsoy, 92); Borrelli (Gaetano G., 69); Esposito Se.
Substitution: Prati (from 69); Gaetano G. (from 69); Idrissi (from 77); Di Pardo (from 92); Kılıçsoy (from 92)
Bench: Ciocci; Radunović B.; Rog M.; Cavuoti; Liteta; Pavoletti; Luvumbo
Yellow Cards: Folorunsho 78; Gaetano G. 83
AS Roma: Svilar; Ndicka; Tsimikas (Ghilardi, 73); Çelik (Rensch, 53); Hermoso; Mancini G.; Cristante (El Aynaoui, 63); Pellegrini Lo. (Dybala, 63); Koné M.; Baldanzi (Rensch, 53); Soule M. (Ferguson E., 62)
Substitution: Rensch (from 53); Ferguson E. (from 62); El Aynaoui (from 63); Dybala (from 63); Ghilardi (from 73)
Bench: Vasquez D.; Gollini; Ziolkowski; Pisilli; Bailey; El Shaarawy
Yellow Cards: Hermoso 78
Red cards: Çelik 53'
