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AS Roma’s Croatia forward Nikola Kalinic scored a brace, his first goals for the club, as they recovered from a goal behind to win 4-3 at Cagliari in a pulsating Serie A game on Sunday.
Roma, with 45 points from 26 games, are three behind fourth-placed Atalanta, who won 7-2 at Lecce and have a game in hand. Cagliari, without a win since Dec. 5, have dropped to 11th.
Joao Pedro put mid-table Cagliari ahead in the 28th minute with an outstanding effort as he controlled the ball and then volleyed it over goalkeeper Pau Lopez.
Fifth-placed Roma replied within a minute as Kalinic, signed on loan from Atletico Madrid in September, headed in Aleksandar Kolarov‘s cross and struck again three minutes before halftime after Henrikh Mkhitaryan pulled the ball back from the byline.
Kalinic set up the third for Justin Kluivert in the 64th minute, Gaston Pereiro pulled one back for the Sardinians and Mkhitaryan then scored Roma’s fourth goal with a glancing header from Kolarov’s free kick.
Joao Pedro grabbed a late consolation for the home side with his second goal in the 89th minute, scoring from the rebound after his penalty was saved by Lopez.
The match was one of only five played in Serie A this weekend — and two on Sunday — due to the coronavirus outbreak. The other five games, in the regions where the government has banned sporting events, were postponed.