The Juventus head coach was looking to bounce back to winning ways following their midweek mishap against Dutch League champions PSV Eindhoven.
The 3-1 defeat in the Netherlands resulted in Motta becoming the only Juventus manager to fail in the Champions League knockout stages after winning the first leg.
Motta shuffled his pack for the trip to the lowly Sardina side, and left the Unipol Domus Stadium with maximum points to leave the Bianconeri sitting fourth in Serie A.
He needs to finish in the top four at the end of the season to secure Champions League soccer next term. Failure to do so could ultimately result in the 42-year-old being given the boot.
Having eked out 13 stalemates this season has left Juventus out of the title chase. This race of glory is currently between Atalanta, reigning champions Inter Milan and Antonio Conte’s rejuvenated Napoli.
Although the recent four Serie A victories have been hard-fought battles, including the 4-1 success over 10-men Empoli, Motta is regularly picking up precious points.
If he can maintain this momentum until the end of the season, and the top three teams keep having a wobble, then Juventus could push for their first league crown since the 2019/20 season.
Motta explained in the post-match conference: “The result is always the most important thing. I’m also satisfied with the performance, especially in the first half when we played good football, creating many chances. "
He admitted: “The flaw was not putting the game to bed. When that doesn't happen against teams like Cagliari, who are well organised, you risk causing problems for yourself.
“There was probably also a bit of tiredness from Wednesday [the Champions League trip to the Netherlands].
“In the second half we were able to come under pressure without conceding almost any chances, even if we weren’t as dominant as we were at the start of the game.
“We must continue to work on transitions and on condeding as few free-kicks as possible to the opponent, who were able to progress up the pitch with relatively few touches of the ball. We must also have an effective game plan in the final third.”
Goals were indeed a problem for Juventus. The reintroduction of talisman forward Dusan Vlahovic paid dividends. He bagged only his second goal of 2025 with a brilliant 12th-minute strike to settle the contest in Cagliari, and celebrated in style.
Turkish teenager Kenan Yildiz came close to finding the back of the net, after being set up by Vlahovic, and loanee striker Kolo Muani produced a toothless display after appearing as a second half substitute.
Vlahovic was shoved to the ground in the box as he was about to shoot. As he got a touch to the ball, there was no penalty given.
Juve’s winning margin should have been greater, and something that Motta needs to work on after back-to-back 1-0 league wins.