Match report
Çalhanoğlu strike enough as Inter dominate Cagliari
Inter moved top of Serie A after a 1-0 win away to Cagliari at the Unipol Domus in matchday two of the Regular Season. The visitors settled the contest early and controlled proceedings from start to finish without needing a second goal to make the points safe.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
The breakthrough came in the ninth minute when Hakan Çalhanoğlu converted from a Nicolò Barella assist, sending Inter ahead 1-0, a scoreline that held through to half-time and remained unchanged for the rest of the match. Cagliari were unable to find a way back despite the result staying tight on the scoreboard.
Inter's dominance was reflected in the underlying numbers: they had 65 percent of possession, fired 30 shots to Cagliari's 10, and put seven on target compared with none for the home side. Cagliari's Adam Obert impressed defensively despite the lopsided territory, while Fabio Pisacane's side struggled to generate meaningful attacking threat throughout.
Çalhanoğlu scored the only goal of the game inside nine minutes and finished with a rating of 8.0, one of two Inter players to top the performance charts alongside Alessandro Bastoni.
Inter's 3.8 expected goals to Cagliari's 0.45 underlined just how comprehensively the visitors controlled the chances created in this match.
Inter won 1–0 away against Cagliari (half-time 0–1).
Cagliari met Inter in the Serie A (Regular Season - 2). Kick-off was Sunday, 30 August 2026, 18:45 UTC at Unipol Domus. Referee: Michael Fabbri.
Key moments
- 9' Goal: Hakan Çalhanoğlu (assist: Nicolò Barella) — 0–1 · Watch Hakan Çalhanoğlu's goal video (9')
Starting line-ups
Cagliari (4-2-3-1)
Inter (3-5-2)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Cagliari 10%, the draw 21%, Inter 69%. It finished Cagliari 0–1 Inter.
Inter's rating gap outweighs Cagliari's home ground — Inter are clearly the stronger side on our strength rating, and the early-season home fade plus a weak Serie A home advantage on top give Inter a clear lead. The draw at 21% is lifted by the early-season fade in home wins.
Why Inter at 69%?
Inter sit 455 points higher on our strength rating — 1690 to 2145. Sides with a more than 300-point rating edge on the road won 65.9% of 5,222 such games. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Cagliari's column. Across 10,823 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.0 — negative in every season since 2018. Serie A home sides under-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to the other outcomes. Serie A homes won 43.3% of 6,096 games vs 44.9% across all 99,542 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly. The 300 most similar past games finished 14–18–68.
Why only 69%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 69% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 21% and Cagliari at 10%.
Why is the draw only 21%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 18.3%. These teams' recent games average 3.0 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,926. Early-season fixtures add 2.0 points to the draw. Serie A runs draw-heavy, adding 1.0 points.
What did we measure but not count?
Inter average 15 points more possession, but the rating gap here is 455 points. Our control receipt only exists between near-equals — there it moved results; across a class gap we could not measure a separate style edge, so style scores 0 here. Cagliari have gained 62 strength-rating points over their last 10 games. Momentum is measured but not yet proven: climbing sides won 41.4% of 12,267 such games vs 40.7% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it stays at 0 points until the receipt clears its evidence bar. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Cagliari vs Inter final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Serie A fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Cagliari 0–1 Inter. Explore more on the Cagliari and Inter team pages or the Serie A page.