Chievo beats Cagliari 2-0 in Serie A

MILAN (AP)—Chievo got back to winning ways in Serie A on Saturday as goals from Cyril Thereau and Gennaro Sardo secured a 2-0 victory over Cagliari.

Thereau gave Chievo the lead in the 35th minute and Sardo doubled the advantage shortly before the hour mark to hand Chievo its first win in four matches.

Alberto Paloschi had a strong game for Chievo and was at the heart of most of its best moves.

Cagliari’s best chance came in the 17th minute when Victor Ibarbo’s header was cleared off the line by Luciano.

Chievo moves into the top half of the table ahead of the rest of the weekend’s games and is now seven points off the drop zone. Cagliari is one point behind.

Thereau could have scored as early as the eighth minute when Paloschi found him in a good position but Cagliari goalkeeper Michael Agazzi pulled off a superb save to deny the Frenchman.

Chievo did have the ball in the net shortly afterward but Paloschi’s goal was ruled offside.

The home side went close again in the 16th minute when Paloschi found Sergio Pellissier but the Chievo captain couldn’t find the target and Cagliari managed to scramble away the danger.

Cagliari then went on the attack and almost scored as Chievo midfielder Luciano had to react smartly close to the goalline to keep out Ibarbo’s header.

Paloschi tormented the Cagliari defense throughout the match and it was no surprise he was at the heart of Chievo’s opening goal, setting up Thereau, who muscled his way past his marker and into the area before firing into the middle of the net.

Cagliari had a good chance to immediately restore parity as first Ibarbo had his shot rebound off a Chievo defender before Pablo Cepellini also had a shot blocked. The ball then fell to Thiago Ribeiro but the Brazilian’s shot flew well wide of the left post.

Chievo was angry at the end of the half as the referee blew for halftime just as Paloschi sent Pellissier clean through on goal.

Chievo started the second half much as they’d ended the first and came close to doubling their lead early on as Paloschi won the ball back and set up Thereau whose effort was inches wide. Seconds later Pellissier’s header flew just over the crossbar.

The home side finally extended its lead in the 57th minute as Thereau put in a tantalizing cross, which Sardo raced onto to surprise the Cagliari defense, and shot into the bottom left corner.

Chievo had chances to add to its advantage, notably when Sardo picked out Pellissier with a long ball but Agazzi did well to tip the shot round the left post.