CAGLIARI: Alberto Cerri came off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner as Cagliari continued their surprising start to the season, fighting back from two goals down to beat Sampdoria 4-3 in an extraordinary Serie A match on Monday.

The two teams put on a show to bring down the curtain on the 14th round of the Serie A season.

The Sardinian outfit showed all their strength of character after trailing 3-1 at home with a quarter of an hour to play to rescue three points and return to fourth in the table.

Cerri headed in the winner in the sixth minute of injury time to spark wild celebrations among the home team and fans, having replaced Giovanni Simeone only three minutes earlier.

Last season’s top goal-scorer in Serie A, Fabio Quagliarella opened the scoring for Sampdoria with a penalty. Gaston Ramirez doubled the lead shortly after half time. Radja Nainggolan replied for the home team before Quagliarella restored the two-goal edge with a spectacular 70th minute goal.

Two volleyed goals in two minutes from Joao Pedro bro­ught Cagliari level before Cerri sent a powerful header into the top corner to snatch an unexpected and precious victory.

Rolando Maran’s side are ahead of AS Roma on goal difference and two points behind third-placed Lazio. Sampdoria remain one place above the relegation zone.

Current standings

(Tabulated under played, won, drawn lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Inter Milan 14 12 1 1 31 13 37

Juventus 14 11 3 0 25 12 36

Lazio 14 9 3 2 33 14 30

Cagliari 14 8 4 2 29 17 28

AS Roma 14 8 4 2 26 15 28

Atalanta 14 7 4 3 34 21 25

Napoli 14 5 5 4 23 18 20

Parma 14 5 3 6 20 18 18

Verona 14 5 3 6 12 14 18

Torino 14 5 2 7 16 20 17

AC Milan 14 5 2 7 13 17 17

Bologna 14 4 4 6 20 23 16

Fiorentina 14 4 4 6 18 21 16

Sassuolo 13 4 2 7 24 25 14

Lecce 14 3 5 6 18 27 14

Udinese 14 4 2 8 9 23 14

Sampdoria 14 3 3 8 12 24 12

Genoa 14 2 4 8 5 28 10

SPAL 14 2 3 9 9 21 9

Brescia 13 2 1 10 10 26 7

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2019