Roma conceded a penalty opener and overturned it with two goals in six minutes. Cagliari levelled again in the 81st minute, but the changes were not over: Rodrigo Mora scored in the 85th minute and Donyell Malen added the fourth in the 87th. Roma’s decisive goals therefore followed the visitors’ apparent recovery of a point, rather than an early spell that had already settled the contest.
Attempts were close, twenty against nineteen, so the two-goal final margin did not come with an equivalent gap in the frequency of shooting. Keeping the penalty identified and the final two goals in their proper sequence also avoids presenting the match as an uninterrupted Roma advantage.
AS Roma 4–2 Cagliari
The ESPN event record confirms the final 4–2 score in home–away order. Recorded kick-off: 2026-10-27 21:45 in Jerusalem time.
Scoring sequence
- M'Bala Nzola, 10 (penalty)
- Emanuele Lulli, 15 — AS Roma
- Niccolò Pisilli, 21 — AS Roma
- Daniel Maldini, 81 — Cagliari
- Rodrigo Mora, 85 — AS Roma
- Donyell Malen, 87 — AS Roma
Attempts: AS Roma 20 shots, 8 on target; Cagliari 19 shots, 8 on target.
Recorded possession: 60.7% for the hosts and 39.3% for the visitors.
2026 season standings checked on 28 October, a dated snapshot rather than a final qualification decision:
AS Roma — 2026-2027 Italian Serie A: position 3, 21 points from 9 games; goal difference +15.
Cagliari — 2026-2027 Italian Serie A: position 9, 13 points from 9 games; goal difference -5.
These matches took place before this report was published; each kick-off is dated above. Figures come from the linked event records, while the interpretation is our editorial reading of those figures.
Archival cover photograph: Donyell Malen in an archival image from his Arsenal period; not an image of the current event. Photographer/creator: joshjdss. Image source and metadata; CC BY 2.0. The Wikimedia-supplied thumbnail is used without further modification. Image date as recorded by the source: 2015-10-20 13:38:50.
