Time proving Cellino right

A year ago, Cagliari were on the brink of disaster. A series of dismal results and a sequence of coaching changes saw the team being bracketed among the relegation strugglers.

But with the return of Davide Ballardini, late in December 2007, Cagliari not only found stability but thanks to a superb finish to the season (32 points in 21 games), they managed to stave off the drop.

Ballardini was the coach chosen by club president Massimo Cellino to lead the team in the 2005/06 campaign. However, following an uninspiring start to that season, Cellino decided to sack Ballardini and appoint veteran Nedo Sonetti instead.

Last summer, Ballardini failed to reach agreement on an extension to his contract with Cagliari and left for pastures new.

The fans blamed Cellino for letting Ballardini go. He was also criticised when former team captain Massimiliano Allegri was appointed as the new coach.

Allegri was a novice to the Serie A, having started his career in 2004 at the helm of Serie C2 outfit Aglianese before an unsuccessful short stint with Grosseto in the Serie C1.

But then he led ambitious Sassuolo to an historical first promotion to the Serie B.

With Allegri on the bench, Cagliari lost all their first five outings. Pressure started to mount on Cellino but he kept faith with Allegri.

On Day Six, Cagliari fought bravely to hold the star-studded Milan to a goalless draw. That outcome signalled a change in fortunes for the club.

On that day, Cagliari were a transformed side. The coach had finally found the right formula. Indeed, the draw with Milan was no fluke as Cagliari went on to chalk up other impressive results.

Successive home wins over Chievo (2-0), Bologna (5-1), Fiorentina (1-0), Sampdoria (1-0) and Palermo (1-0) followed before Cagliari drew with Reggina (1-1) just before Christmas.

On their travels, Cagliari drew 2-2 at Napoli (the only home points dropped by Napoli so far) and last Saturday Allegri's men emulated Genoa and held Inter to a 1-1 draw at the San Siro.

Cagliari were leading 1-0 up to the 76th minute against Inter and had other good chances to wrap up the match before Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalized for the champions.

With 22 points already in the bag, Cagliari are well on their way to preserve their status. At present, they are enjoying a cushion seven-point lead over third-from-bottom Torino and if they beat Udinese at home this weekend they could start dreaming of a UEFA Cup berth by the end of the season.

Allegri is doing a superb job and now the fans agree that Cellino was right to give him his backing.

Perhaps, an area which needs immediate improvement for Cagliari is their away record (only five points from nine games). If they can improve on that, Cagliari can reach unprecedented heights.

Serie A statistics

0 Milan wins in Rome since March 20, 2005 (2-0) as the Rossoneri, with star midfielder David Beckham in the team, shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw with Luciano Spalletti's side on Sunday. Roma will play their home game in hand against Sampdoria tonight. Lazio enhanced their chances for fourth place thanks to a 3-2 away win over Reggina. This was Lazio's fourth away success of the term.

1st away win for troubled Lecce who caused the biggest upset of the day by beating Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi Stadium. This was Fiorentina's first home setback of the term. In the most entertaining match of the weekend, Palermo beat Atalanta 3-2 to register a third home win on the trot. Prior to Sunday, a Palermo home victory over Atalanta had been missing since December 5, 2004 (1-0).

3 penalties were awarded by referees last weekend. In a vital end-to-end clash with Chievo, Marco Di Vaio equalised for hosts Bologna by converting a penalty on the stroke of half-time. Bernardo Corradi gave struggling Reggina a headstart against Lazio from the spot. Elsewhere, Marek Hamsik saw his penalty stopped by Catania's Albano Bizzarri.

4 points now separate leaders Inter from nearest rivals Juventus. The champions had to sweat for a 1-1 draw against Cagliari at home. This was Cagliari's first positive result in Milan since a 2-2 draw on December 1, 1996. An Alessandro Del Piero free-kick was enough for Juve to overcome Siena. This was Juve's fifth win in as many home league encounters with the Tuscany side.

7 draws and a win represent Bologna's record under the tenure of Sinisa Mihajlovic. On Sunday, Bologna came from a goal down to share the spoils with lowly Chievo. This was Chievo's first positive result after three straight defeats. Udinese's crisis knows no ends as the northeasterners could not go beyond a 1-1 home draw with Sampdoria to extend their winless run to nine games.

7th straight away defeat for third-from-bottom Torino who were floored by in-form Genoa 0-3 for the second year running. Genoa were in complete control from the word go as Torino were a far cry from the team that had beaten Napoli before the Christmas break. Genoa are undefeated in their last six outings (three wins and three draws). Torino and Catania are the only sides without an away win. Napoli left it late to beat Catania 1-0 at the San Paolo stadium. Napoli, Inter and Genoa are the only sides still unbeaten at home.

28 goals were scored on the penultimate day of the first round: 16 coming from the hosts and the remaining 12 from the visitors, who managed two victories. Foreigners contributed with 16 goals. Mirko Vucinic (Roma) and Alexandre Pato (Milan) scored a brace each. Goran Pandev struck a hat-trick for Lazio in the 3-2 win over Reggina. Francesco Cozza (Reggina) was the only player who came on as a substitute and scored. Marco Di Vaio, of Bologna, is the new leading scorer with 13 goals. The ex-Lazio hitman is followed by Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina) and Diego Milito (Genoa) with 12 goals each.