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Lecce-Cagliari 1-2: Sardinians conquer the Via del Mare in the early match of the fourth round of Serie A, thanks to a superb return to Serie A by Andrea Belotti.

The rooster raises its crest and sings again in the early match of Serie A. A brace from Andrea Belotti, who had not appeared on the scoresheet since December 8, 2024, is enough to defeat Lecce coached by Di Francesco, increasingly at the bottom of the table and on their way back to Serie B.

Lecce, Di Francesco’s words

The Roman coach analyzed the defeat to Cagliari in an interview with DAZN.

Performance
“In the second half, we had the most important opportunity with Morente and then in the following action the penalty arrived. It’s not clear, maybe Tiago Gabriel could have been more cautious. In the first half, it was a good and open match. In the second half, we were naive in that situation. Then they defended well.”

Lineup
“In the second half, I brought in Ndaba and Kaba because we were struggling with their physicality. Otherwise, yes, I believe we needed more physicality. We definitely need to improve in terms of quality. We lose too many balls carelessly, even on simple passes.”

Standings
“I would be stupid to say I’m not worried. We need to analyze a lot of things. In duels, even on set pieces, we suffered from their physicality. On the right side, we struggled with Palestra and we should have read some situations better. We need to continue our work even though it’s disappointing not to bring joy to our people. If we can’t win sometimes, we need to learn not to lose.”

Then in the press conference.

Match
“The first half was back and forth, we struggled with them physically, even on set pieces. In the second half, I tried to bring physicality and balance to the team. We had a great opportunity with Morente, then there was the penalty where we were naive. Tiago Gabriel had a good game, even scoring a goal, maybe he should have gone for the interception rather than the player. They slowed down the game and we hit a wall. Many times you can not win games, but you must not lose them.”

Difficulties
“It’s disappointing not to bring back an important result, the boys gave everything they had. We wanted to secure important points. Many games go in a certain way. Even though we went ahead, we weren’t good. I’m disappointed, I didn’t expect to lose. We need to roll up our sleeves and start over, accepting criticisms and judgments.”

N’Dri
“N’Dri is a substitute for Pierotti in terms of role. Stulic had little impact and I wanted to bring in an attacker to give him more opportunities. N’Dri was the last change and before making it, I had to evaluate many things. If you score with Morente, maybe the game would have been different.”

Quality
“We need to improve in our decision-making. But it’s a general issue, we need to be more qualitative in what we propose. The team has made some interesting plays, but it’s not enough. Sala is one of those players who can provide more quality. But in the first half, he struggled with the opponents’ physicality.”

Substitutions
“It’s not the fault of those who came in. It’s up to me to find certain solutions. Today we struggled with their physicality, which reigns supreme in Italian football. We can do better, we need to impact games well, without facing so many contrasts like we did today.”