Zaniolo fires Serie A leaders Atalanta to club-record win at Cagliari

Nicolo Zaniolo made sure Atalanta will stay top of Serie A this weekend with the only goal in Saturday's 1-0 win at Cagliari which handed his team a club-record 10th straight league win.

Substitute Zaniolo decided a hard-fought encounter in Sardinia by stroking home Raoul Bellanova's cut-back in the 66th minute and moving Atalanta five points clear.

Atalanta's closest challengers Napoli can close the gap back to two points at Udinese later on Saturday, while Juventus are 10 points off the pace ahead of their home fixture with bottom club Venezia.

Zaniolo's strike was his third of the season and a further sign of new life from the Italy international after a difficult last few years.

The 25-year-old was once the rising star of Italian football after coming to prominence at Roma, where two serious knee injuries in 2020 stymied his development as a creative playmaker.

He won the inaugural Europa Conference League with Roma in 2022 under Jose Mourinho, but fell out with the Portuguese coach and last year was packed off to Galatasaray, from where he was loaned to Atalanta in July.

Atalanta impressed in Tuesday's 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League but struggled against Cagliari who are 15th and only two points above the relegation zone.

The away side, who also struck the post through Ademola Lookman almost straight after Zaniolo's winner, only came away with all three points thanks to a brilliant performance between the sticks from Marco Carnesecchi.

Goalkeeper Carnesecchi pulled off a sensational triple save six minutes before the break and saved the win in stoppage time by keeping out Leonardo Pavoletti's header.