This Sunday, Cagliari welcomed Napoli for matchday 24 of the Serie A TIM. The clash took place at the Sardegna Arena and both teams were desperate for the three points. Dries Mertens’ only goal gave the victory to the Blues.

The first chance of the match was Neapolitan. At the 4th minute, Fabian Ruiz missed a good chance. On the other hand, the Rossoblu had their chance just at the 18th minute, with Giovanni Simeone. Goalkeeper Alessio Cragno also avoided some chances created by the visitors and both teams went to half-time without scoring.

In the second half, Napoli continued better than the hosts and created more and more chances, especially with Elif Elmas. Cagliari also brought some danger, but not enough to get the victory. Attacking that much, the Blues finally were able to break the deadlock, at the 65th minute. Mertens received an assist from Elseid Hysaj and put the ball into the back of the net.

The Rossoblu tried to equalize things and had good chances to do soo with Alberto Paloschi, who was brought in two minutes after the goal suffered, and also with defender Ragnar Klavan. But they were not able to score and the 3 points went to the visitors.

With the victory, the Blues go to the 9th place, with 33 points, and continue fighting for a place on next year’s Europa League. Cagliari dropped to 11th place, with 32 points.

Both teams come back to the pitch next weekend, for matchday 25 of the Italian Championship. Napoli will travel to face Brescia on Friday, and probably will rest their important players once they will welcome Barcelona next Tuesday for the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Cagliari, who are only playing the national competition, will face Verona on Sunday, trying to win some positions on the table.