Udinese 0-1 Cagliari: Daniel Maldini punishes a defensive mix-up despite 26 Udinese shots

Udinese had 65.1% of the possession, twenty-six shots and sixteen corners — and lost anyway. Daniel Maldini punished a mix-up between Lennon Miller and Christian Kabasele in the 54th minute to give Cagliari a 1-0 win at the Bluenergy Stadium, a result that says more about game management than about who created the better chances.

How the goal came

1. Lennon Miller tried to play the ball back into his own half under little real pressure.
2. The pass caught Christian Kabasele off guard, and Cagliari's Daniel Maldini read it first.
3. Maldini nipped in ahead of the defence and finished left-footed from the centre of the box into an unguarded net.

Twenty-six shots, one goal

The gulf in territory did not translate to a gulf on the scoreboard. Udinese had 26 shots to Cagliari's five, five of them on target, but could not find a way past goalkeeper Elia Caprile, who made several important saves before Maldini's goal changed the balance of the afternoon. Cagliari's back five, built around Yerry Mina, did enough after that to protect a lead that Udinese never looked capable of overturning.

Match facts

Line-ups

Where it leaves both clubs

Before this round, Guriball's table had Cagliari well placed in the top half and Udinese towards the bottom. The result takes Cagliari to nine points from four games and up to eighth, just a point off the Conference League play-off place. Udinese stay 13th on four points from four matches, a tally that does not reflect the amount of the ball and the number of chances they generated here — a problem Kosta Runjaić will need to solve before the position becomes more serious than one frustrating afternoon.

What's next

Cagliari, winners in three of their last four league matches, head into the international break as one of Serie A's form teams under Fabio Pisacane. Udinese will hope the pause gives them time to turn territory into goals before their next fixture.