Cagliari pulled off the greatest comeback in Serie A history when they recovered from 3-0 down at home to Frosinone to win 4-3, with Leonardo Pavoletti contributing two goals in added time.
“I always say give everything until the end of the game. I hope that this victory will be a milestone,” said Claudio Ranieri, the Cagliari manager, whose side had started the day bottom of the table and had not won in their opening nine games.
The Sardinian team found themselves 3-0 down in the 49th minute after letting in a goal by Marco Brescianini and a first-half double from Matías Soulé. Their comeback did not begin until the 72nd when Gaetano Oristanio, on as a substitute, scored. Four minutes later Antoine Makoumbou made it 3-2. Pavoletti, another substitute, levelled the tie in the 94th minute and two minutes later grabbed the winner.
The 34-year-old then turned saviour at the other end, clearing off the line from a late Frosinone header as Cagliari got their first win of the season and climbed off the bottom of the table.
No team had ever gone on to win a Serie A game when 3-0 down going into the final 20 minutes. Perugia came close in 2001 when 3-0 down to Bari, scoring for 3-1 in the 67th minute before going on to win 4-3.
In 1942, Torino came from 3-0 down against Napoli to win 5-3 but their comeback began in the 42nd minute, while in 1949 Internazionale won a derby game with Milan 6-5, having been 4-1 down but having pulled back to 4-3 by half-time. In 2011, Milan beat Lecce 4-3 after being 3-0 down at the interval, with Kevin-Prince Boateng scoring the first goal of a hat-trick in the 49th minute.
The same year, Genoa began a comeback from 3-0 down to Roma in the 52nd minute before winning 4-3. In 2021, Hellas Verona also pulled back the first goal in the 52nd minute after being 3-0 down to Venezia and won 4-3.
In Ligue 1, a late strike from Kylian Mbappé allowed Paris Saint-Germain to snatch a 3-2 win at Brest. The visitors were awarded a penalty after Lilian Brassier fouled Randal Kolo Muani. While Mbappé’s spot kick was saved, he netted the rebound a minute before stoppage time. PSG are second with 21 points, a point behind the leaders Nice. Brest are sixth with 15 points.
Warren Zaïre-Emery, 17, displayed his skills 16 minutes into the game when he fired a thunderous shot into the upper left corner to hand PSG a 1-0 lead. Mbappé doubled the score with his 250th club goal when he calmly slotted the ball into the bottom-left corner in the 28th minute.
Steve Mounie was roared on by the home fans when he netted a close-range goal shortly before the interval and Jérémy Le Douaron levelled the scores before Mbappé’s late winner.
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Bayer Leverkusen reclaimed the top spot in the Bundesliga standings after beating Freiburg 2-1 at home to remain unbeaten this season with eight wins in nine league games.
Xabi Alonso’s side are on 25 points, two clear of second-placed champions Bayern Munich. Freiburg are eighth with 13 points.
Florian Wirtz opened the scoring in the 36th minute, striking from inside the box towards the far post after brilliantly jinking and turning to trick the Freiburg defence. Jonas Hofmann doubled the advantage for the hosts with a goal in the 60th minute before Freiburg pulled one back 10 minutes later through a Manuel Gulde header.
Borussia Dortmund maintained their unbeaten start to the season but were made to work hard to earn a 3-3 draw away at Eintracht Frankfurt in a rollercoaster match. Omar Marmoush’s brace and a goal from Farès Chaibi looked to have sealed the three points for Frankfurt in the pouring rain at Deutsche Bank Park, but Julian Brandt rescued a point with a goal from close range in the 82nd minute.
