The hosts flew out of the blocks to grab a fourth-minute lead in their first top-flight meeting with Cagliari in 20 years. Yerry Mina’s hesitant defending allowed the persistent Jamie Vardy to steal possession in the box before teeing up Dennis Johnsen for a simple drilled finish.
Buoyed by his assist, Vardy put his own name on the scoresheet just shy of the half-hour mark, squeezing a shot through Elia Caprile’s defences to register his fifth Serie A goal of the campaign.
With a mountain to climb, Zito Luvumbo attempted to ignite the Cagliari fightback with a couple of ambitious efforts before the break, forcing Emil Audero into a smart stop before whipping a long-range shot inches wide of the far post, ensuring the home side went into the interval with a healthy two-goal cushion.
After seeing his team work hard for their strong position, Cremonese boss Davide Nicola would have been disappointed to see them concede within six minutes of the restart. Michel Adopo neatly combined with Gennaro Borrelli before he drove a low shot beyond the outstretched Audero from 18 yards out.
As the game neared the final quarter, Inter Milan loanee Sebastiano Esposito thought he had completed the Cagliari comeback with a composed first-time finish, only for his celebrations to be cut short by the assistant’s raised flag.
With his team running out of time, Fabio Pisacane threw on debutant Yael Trepy for his Serie A debut, and the move proved to be a masterstroke. In fact, the 19-year-old required just four minutes to fire a left-foot shot past Audero to snatch a point after picking up the ball with his back to goal.
Sebastiano Luperto nearly soured Cagliari’s jubilant mood when he received a straight red card before the referee ruled, following a VAR review, that the clumsy challenge was only worthy of a yellow.
Luperto was soon able to celebrate a hard-fought point with his teammates, leaving the Islanders in 14th spot and three points behind their 13th-placed hosts.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jamie Vardy (Cremonese)
Check out the match summary here.
