Serie A | Cagliari 4-1 Lecce: Sardinians surge after Rebic sees red | OneFootball

Cagliari came back from behind to crush 10-man Lecce after the Ante Rebic red card for stamping on Yerry Mina and surge up the standings.

Mina returned from injury, but Zito Luvumbo was still out of action for the Sardinians, fresh from a win over Monza and holding Milan 1-1 at San Siro. The visitors had a lengthy absentee list including Antonino Gallo, Lameck Banda, Medon Berisha, Hamza Rafia and Kialonda Gaspar.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Frederic Guilbert did just about enough to prevent Mattia Felici tapping in the Gabriele Zappa assist from six yards, while Wladimiro Falcone parried the Michel Adopo effort.

Elia Caprile needed a fine save as Nikola Krstovic turned Yerry Mina to get the shot away from 12 yards, but Cagliari had a huge double opportunity on 34 minutes.

First Krstovic turned defender with a goal-line clearance on the looping Roberto Piccoli header from a corner, then as the move continued Sebastiano Luperto’s acrobatic effort landed on the roof of the net.

Cagliari had the ball in the net on 41 minutes, but Viola was offside as he let a long ball bounce and fired in the half-volley.

Moments later, it was Lecce who were in front, Tete Morente running onto the Patrick Dorgu pass and pulling it back for Santiago Pierotti to sweep in first time with the left boot from the edge of the area.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – JANUARY 19: Santiago Pierotti of Lecce scores his goal 0-1 during the Serie A match between Cagliari and Lecce at Sardegna Arena on January 19, 2025 in Cagliari, Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

It should’ve been 2-0 within 60 seconds of the restart, but Krstovic hit a fresh-air shot on the Thorir Helgason roll across from the right.

Instead, Cagliari drew level with two of their half-time substitutes combining. Gianluca Gaetano surged forward, ran onto the return Alessandro Deiola back-heel pass and blasted into the roof of the net from a tricky angle. It was his first goal of the season.

This sparked a surge from the hosts, as Falcone flew to palm the viciously dipping long-range Viola strike away, then on the resulting corner Sebastiano Luperto deflected the Razvan Marin set play in off his back rather than his head.

It went from bad to worse for Lecce, as Ante Rebic had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes when he was caught on camera stamping on Yerry Mina’s bicep as the defender was down on the ground for a straight red card.

Tommaso Augello’s daisy-cutter skimmed the upright with Falcone beaten, but then his cross found Nadir Zortea for a looping header and 3-1.

Soon after, Adam Obert broke his career Serie A duck with a sensational left-foot curler into the far top corner from inside the area, as Cagliari ran riot against 10-man Lecce.

Cagliari 4-1 Lecce

Pierotti 42 (L), Gaetano 60 (C), Luperto 65 (C), Zortea 80 (C), Obert 83 (C)

Sent off: Rebic 73 (L)