CAGLIARI, ITALY – FEBRUARY 16: Contrast with Santiago Daniel Pierotti of Lecce and Sebastiano Esposito of Cagliari during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and US Lecce at Stadio Sant’Elia on February 16, 2026 in Cagliari, Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)
Lecce picked up a massively important 2-0 victory away against Cagliari in Serie A on Monday evening, which has lifted them out of the relegation zone at the expense of Fiorentina and has also drawn Genoa and Cremonses back into the dogfight: Omri Gandelman and Ylber Ramadani with the goals at the Unipol Domus.
Click here to see how the teams lined up.
Riccardo Sottil came close after 28 minutes when the ball bounced up for him inside the penalty area, but the former Fiorentina man saw his shot sail over the crossbar.
Gabriele Zappa also had an opportunity on the half volley inside the area down at the other end. The ball set up kinder for him than it did for Sottil, but he too blazed over the crossbar with his effort.
The eventual Lecce opener couldn’t have come in much simpler circumstances. Sottil stood over a free kick just off the right flank, he lofted one into the area where January signing Gandelman rose and powered in a header from the edge of the six-yard box.
That was the Israel international’s second goal in as many matches for the Salentini.
It was another set-piece that indirectly led to Lecce doubling their advantage 10 minutes later.
Another Sottil free-kick off the right was aimed at Gandelman again, but he was unable to get his head on it this time. Cagliari struggled to clear their lines, Ramadani found himself on the left corner of the penalty area and managed to squeeze a shot past Elia Caprile.
The Cagliari stopper presumably saw the shot late, but will have been disappointed to have been beaten from that angle and range.
This is an enormous three points for Lecce in their bid to avoid relegation to Serie B. They move out of the relegation zone and move three points above Fiorentina, and are now level on points with Genoa and Cremonese in 15th and 16th respectively.
Cagliari now sit just four points above Lecce and have a seven-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three.
Cagliari 0-2 Lecce
Gandelman 64′, Ramadani 76′.
1
33
28
2
3
26
32
8
25
30
94
30
25
17
4
44
29
16
20
23
50
99
4
24
22
9
12
39
15
27
37
20
18
31
14
32
1
36
18
8
11
79
9
3
80
5
6
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Source:
football-italia.net