Cagliari beat Parma 1-0 in Serie A, with their 4-2-3-1 providing enough midfield control and attacking support to overcome Parma’s 4-3-3. Alessandro Romano scored the only goal, rewarding an away performance that held a narrow advantage across the principal attacking metrics. Cagliari recorded 14 shots to Parma’s 13 and put five efforts on target, while the hosts tested the visiting goalkeeper only twice. The Sardinian side also posted 0.94 xG compared with Parma’s 0.75, suggesting a close contest in which the better chances marginally favoured the winners. Possession followed a similar pattern, Cagliari taking a 53% share and Parma 47%, but the decisive difference came in both penalty areas. Cagliari’s goalkeeper saved 100% of the shots he faced and finished 0.08 goals above expectation, preserving the clean sheet. Parma’s goalkeeper made four saves from five shots on target, an 80% save rate, yet could not prevent Romano settling the match. Daniele Perenzoni oversaw a game defined by fine margins rather than a pronounced statistical imbalance. Cagliari begin the campaign with a valuable away victory.