Mendy on debut, 16 seconds in: Cagliari beat Atalanta 3-2 to step clear of the relegation fight
Paul Mendy will not forget his first Cagliari start. Picked at centre-forward by Fabio Pisacane against Atalanta on Monday, the 19-year-old Senegalese striker had two goals in eight minutes and a club Serie A record by the time the half hour was up. Cagliari needed every minute of it. Atalanta hit back through Gianluca Scamacca with a brace of his own before the break, but Gennaro Borrelli's 47th-minute finish put the home side back in front and they survived for a 3-2 win that pushes them eight points clear of the relegation zone.
A 16-second header to start a story
Mendy's first goal came after 16 seconds, a header from a Michel Adopo cross. It is the fastest goal scored by a Cagliari player in Serie A. Eight minutes later he was on the scoresheet again, and the Unipol Domus had what looked like an out-of-nowhere kid suddenly setting the night's terms.
Atalanta still had Scamacca, who pulled them back to 2-1, then to 2-2 by the close of the first half. Mendy was withdrawn at the break with a knock, and the natural feeling that he might have had a hat-trick on debut left with him.
Borrelli the substitute
Pisacane's replacement was Gennaro Borrelli, on at half-time for Mendy, and within two minutes of the restart he had the winner. Atalanta pushed for a third equaliser through the closing 40 minutes without finding it. Cagliari's defence held what they had and walked off the field eight points clear of the bottom three, the kind of margin that ends most relegation conversations with four games to play.
Atalanta's European spring still fading
For Atalanta the night was a continuation of a slide that has dropped them out of the Champions League places through the spring. They sit seventh on 54 points, in or around the Europa and Conference League conversation rather than the elite competition they have made themselves famous in. Scamacca's two goals were the kind of performance that would once have brought three points home. Instead they brought nothing, and a 19-year-old's first start as the headline.
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