Home comforts remain for Parma

Parma survived an early scare before ensuring their unbeaten home record remained firmly intact with a 4-1 win over Cagliari

Parma survived an early scare before three second-half goals ensured their proud unbeaten home record in Serie A remained firmly intact with a 4-1 victory against Cagliari. Roberto Donadoni's side have now not at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in 13 league games dating back to March, although on Sunday they had to recover from going behind to Marco Sau's 20th-minute opener. They took just a minute to equalise, through Ishak Belfodil, before putting their foot down after the break. Jonathan Biabiany, a Jaime Valdes penalty and Belfodil's second goal late on ensured the afternoon ended comfortably for Parma as they remained inside the top half. Cagliari have now not won in their past seven league games and are two points above the drop zone. Despite their poor run, the Sardinians stole ahead on Sunday thanks to Sau's clever lobbed finish. The striker's finish matched Anderson Nene's fine pass to find him as he fooled home goalkeeper Nicola Pavarini to send his side into a 20th-minute lead. It lasted just a single minute, however, as Belfodil grabbed the first of his double. Valdes found space inside the area and crossed into the middle where Belfodil was on hand to force a header in. That did not initially clear the way for Parma's dominance as Pavarini had to save well from Davide Astori's deflected header before Francesco Pisano shot over. Pavarini remained busy after half-time and was soon forced to scramble away Daniele Conti's free-kick before Biabiany fired Parma ahead on 54 minutes. Michael Agazzi initially did well to keep out Belfodil's cross-shot but the ball broke kindly for Biabiany to force in from close range. Parma began to move out of sight on 65 minutes when Agazzi fouled Marco Parolo to give away a penalty that Valdes neatly converted into the bottom-right corner. Thiago Ribeiro tried to pull a goal back with a well-hit shot that Pavarini punched clear before Belfodil made Parma's margin of success appear even more emphatic. The France Under-20 international beat Lorenzo Ariaudo before curling in his shot from inside the area.