Juventus 1 - 1 Cagliari - Juve held by Sardinians

Posted Sunday, January 15, 2012 by PA

Juventus had to settle for a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Cagliari to hand AC Milan an opportunity to go clear at the top of the Serie A standings later on Sunday evening.

Unbeaten Juve started the weekend level on 37 points with Milan at the summit and looked set to pick up three more points after taking a seventh-minute lead through Mirko Vucinic.

However, mid-table Cagliari upset their hosts by drawing level just after half-time through Andrea Cossu and Juve could not find a winner as the Bianconeri had to settle for an eighth draw in 18 games this season.

The result gives Juve a one-point lead at the top of the table, but Milan could take over pole position if they beat city rivals Inter in the Milanese derby.

Cagliari had won just two of their 31 league encounters at Juventus over the years and that record looked unlikely to improve as Antonio Conte's men took an early lead.

Stephan Lichtsteiner created the chance with a fine pass and Vucinic made no mistake from the edge of the six-yard box.

Former Cagliari striker Alessandro Matri could have doubled Juve's lead soon after but he fired just wide from outside the area, while Simone Pepe was denied by a good save from Michael Agazzi just before half-time as the home side sought to put daylight between themselves and their opponents.

Cagliari's only real chance of the first half saw Davide Astori fire wide in the 20th minute, but the visitors managed to get back on terms three minutes into the second half thanks to Cossu.

He tried his luck with a left-footed shot from outside the box and Gianluigi Buffon was left with no chance as the ball whistled into the bottom left corner of the net.

That was a big setback for Juve but they at least had sufficient time to recover and try to force a winner.

The hosts were not short of chances, but they were unable to make any of them count as Matri headed over, Arturo Vidal failed to keep his shot down while Vucinic was also unable to hit the target with his opportunity.

Perhaps the best opening of the lot fell to veteran striker Alessandro Del Piero with 10 minutes left, but the club's all-time record goalscorer saw his close-range header saved by Agazzi on the line.