Serie A | Cagliari 1-1 Juventus: Kolo Muani first goal to rescue a point

BySusy Campanale

Randal Kolo Muani’s first goal of the season rescued a point for toothless Juventus away to high-flying Cagliari after yet another Daniel Maldini strike.

The Bianconeri were forced to do without Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli, Jeremie Boga, Jeff Ekhator, Kamil Grabara and Arkadiusz Milik, while new goalkeeper Neto still had a one-match ban to sit out from his Brazilian career.

The Sardinians were higher up the table after three wins on the bounce, four in the opening five rounds. Yael Trepy, Riyad Idrissi and Mattia Felici all missed out, with Alessandro Deiola, Kevin Carlos and M’Bala Nzola not fully fit, but Inter-owned Yanis Massolin was given his Serie A debut.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – MARCH 20: Cagliari’s coach Fabio Pisacane looks on during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and SSC Napoli at Stadio Sant’Elia on March 20, 2026 in Cagliari, Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

There were a few promising early Pape Malang Sarr runs from midfield, but when Weston McKennie volleyed a Zeki Celik cross back from the by-line, Nico Gonzalez couldn’t keep the finish under control from six yards.

It was Cagliari who broke the deadlock with an ideal birthday gift for Maldini, his fourth Serie A appearance in a row on target. He started the move by robbing Francisco Conceicao in midfield, then saw an attempt charged down, before the ricochet and Paul Mendy knocked it back into his path to sweep in from seven yards.

Daniel Maldini smiles after scoring the opening goal for Cagliari against Juventus (@cagliaricalcio)

Guglielmo Vicario flew to fingertip a Harry Winks scorcher over the bar, as Juve had all the possession, but were largely ineffective upfront, with Nico Gonzalez curling wide from distance.

Juventus finally had a shot on target in first half stoppages, the Nico Gonzalez free kick stinging Elia Caprile’s gloves under the crossbar, not much to show for 71 per cent possession.

Kerim Alajbegovic and Edon Zhegrova were introduced, while Deiola made his comeback under two weeks on from knee surgery.

A Douglas Luiz daisy-cutter was easily smothered, but Caprile had to make a trickier save to parry the powerful Zhegrova strike from just inside the area.

Francisco Conceicao in action for Juventus away to Cagliari (@juventusfcen)

Mendy and Alieu Fadera were both marginally offside when forcing Guglielmo Vicario difficult saves on the counter, while a Zhegrova scorcher from distance was deflected inches past the post.

Zhegrova also saw his left-foot curler palmed away by Caprile, with the resulting Alajbegovic corner flashing past both Jhon Lucumi and Nick Woltemade, unable to tap in from a couple of yards.

Juve finally equalised with Randal Kolo Muani’s first goal of the season, as he managed to get in front of Adam Obert for a glancing header at the back post, meeting the swerving Alajbegovic cross from the left.

Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz in action away to Cagliari (@juventus)

Kolo Muani really should’ve turned the game around just four minutes later when he met a practically identical Alajbegovic cross, but this time he volleyed it onto the underside of the crossbar from five yards.

Andrea Cambiaso also tested Caprile at the near post, as did Kolo Muani with an acrobatic scissor-kick volley when marginally offside.

Tension erupted at the final whistle with both Luciano Spalletti and Fabio Pisacane shown the red card for their altercation.

Cagliari 1-1 Juventus

Maldini 20 (C), Kolo Muani 81 (J)

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