The end justifies the means! Pale Juve barely edge persistent Cagliari

Barely, but still a victory! Juventus seemed mediocre and vulnerable tonight in Sardinia, but Cagliari weren't good enough to exploit the Old Lady's flaws. Everything that PSV managed to do in the UCL playoffs, Davide Nicola's men failed.

In the end, Dusan Vlahovic's early winner was the only moment that separated the two sides, and even that goal was scored thanks to the home team's serious defensive mistake - 1-0.

After being benched in the last five games, Dusan Vlahovic was in the XI, and it took him only 12 minutes to score the deadlock-breaker. The Serb exploited a bad back pass and Yerry Mina's hesitation, stole the ball, dribbled it past Cagliari's keeper (on loan from Napoli) Elia Caprile, and passed it into the empty net.

However, Caprile justified the status of one of the best young Italian custodians, saving his team from a much more significant deficit at the break. Namely, the 23-year-old stopped Francisco Conceicao and Kenan Yildiz (twice), all in goal-scoring opportunities and all between the 22nd and 29th minute.

Cagliari threatened once over Nadir Zortea from a distance in the 36th minute in the home team's first and only shot on target, but Michele Di Gregorio easily saved that effort.

This is how you lose a title - Como has sunk Napoli

Despite his team having a lead, Thiago Motta decided to pair up Vlahovic and Randal Kolo Muani in the attack at the hour mark, for the first time since the Frenchman arrived at Allianz Stadium. On the other hand, Cagliari boss Davide Nicola subbed in the fast Angolan Zito Luvumbo, who started running riots over Juve's right defensive flank.

Udinese player confronts entire team and coach so he would take penalty

As the time passed, the home crew was more and more offence-oriented, pursuing the vital leveller, but also leaving space for Juve's counters. After one such fastbreak, Vlahovic could have completed a brace, but unbelievable Caprile stepped up once again.

The Bianconeri kept the fourth spot and a two-point advantage over Lazio with tonight's win, while Cagliari remained above the relegation zone despite the loss.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 26

Friday

Lecce - Udinese 0-1 (0-1)

/Lucca 32 pen/

Saturday

Parma - Bologna 2-0 (1-0)

/Bonny 37 pen, Sohm 79/

Venezia - Lazio 0-0

Torino - Milan 2-1 (1-0)

/Thiaw 5 og, Gineitis 76 - Reijnders 74/

Inter - Genoa 1-0 (0-0)

/Martinez 78/

Sunday

Como - Napoli 2-1 (1-1)

/Rrahmani 7 og, Diao 77 - Raspadori 17/

Verona - Fiorentina 1-0 (0-0)

/Bernede 90+5/

Empoli - Atalanta 0-5 (0-3)

/Gyasi 27 og, Retegui 33, Lookman 43, 55, Zappacosta 74/

Cagliari - Juventus 0-1 (0-1)

/Vlahovic 12/

Monday

22.45: (1.32) Roma (5.10) Monza (10.0)

***odds are subject to change***