Serie B Playoffs: Cagliari-Venice 2-0, two goals from Lapadula. Sardinians in the semifinals

Keep dreaming only of Cagliari. Gianluca Lapadula scratches the playoffs and also explains to Venice why he is the best player in B. The lightning double from the regular season top scorer nips the lagoon attempts in the bud and launches Ranieri’s boys towards the semifinal. Appointment on Tuesday against Parma.

SUPER LAPADULA

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Fiery atmosphere at the Unipol Domus, with the match between the two regular season strikers, Lapadula and Pohjanpalo, which is giving away a place in the semifinals. For the Cagliari attacker, the evening was the right one: around fifteen minutes, the first flicker of a header, on a cross from Nandez, unlocked the game. And after four rounds of the clock here is the 2-0: a mix of cunning and coldness, two touches on the ball with a hole in it and Joronen shot dead. A knockout one-two (fourth brace of the season), which shakes the certainties of Vanoli’s team, unrecognizable and at the mercy of the rossoblù gusts. The last of the first half arrives a handful of minutes from the interval: the usual Nandez puts Zappa face to face with Joronen, the defender almost scores a lob.

PIERINI IS NOT ENOUGH

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Vanoli tries to shake things up with the substitutions and the moves are immediately useful to reopen the game: in the 52nd minute, Pierini (who came on for Candela) takes care of exploiting Ellertsson’s escape on the left to beat Radunovic with a nice shot head in insertion. Unipol Domus trembles, Venice begins to believe it and puts all the missing desire into play in the first fraction, raising the center of gravity and trying a couple of times with a rekindled Pohjanpalo. Ranieri plays all the substitutions (also Luvumbo out, Prelec in) to cover himself and restart. The script is interpreted well by his players, who take refuge in defense of the advantage until the end of the 5′ of added time. The last real thrill comes with Hristov’s goring, just inches from the post. Cagliari sweats more than expected, but continues its run. Next stop: Parma.