Starting their first full season under Daniele De Rossi, Roma looked somewhat unprepared in the offensive area of the pitch as they struggled to create anything of note in a low-key first period of the new campaign. On 40 minutes the game seemed to open up as Razvan Marin took it upon himself to test Mile Svilar from 25-yards out but the Romanian’s effort was parried out to safety.
Roma broke quickly up the other end of the pitch but Nicola Zalewski’s dinked cross was too high for last season's La Liga 'Pichichi' winner, Artem Dovbyk, to make anything of it. Five minutes later Mehmet Zeki Celik gifted the ball to Roberto Piccoli who charged at goal but his strike flew wide of the post with Svilar seemingly having it covered.
A De Rossi rocket must have ensued at the break as the visitors came out with renewed interest. First Matias Soule hit one with the outside of his boot on 47 minutes which Simone Scuffet tipped round the post before Zalewski looked to break the deadlock with a whipped effort from the edge of the box but he got his angles wrong upon execution.
In the 54th minute, the game really should have had its first goal. A simple ball over the top found Zalewski wide on the left whose low cross was cleverly left by Dovbyk for the onrushing Lorenzo Pellegrini but Giallorossi club captain could not poke the ball beyond Scuffet.
De Rossi introduced talisman Paulo Dybala in the 69th minute. 'La Joya' has been the subject of strong interest from Saudi Arabia which may explain why he started the game on the bench and the Argentine was given an opportunity to open the scoring almost immediately but his free-kick 25-yards out didn’t have the desired elevation, instead hitting the wall tamely.
Dybala’s introduction completely transformed Roma’s attacking threat and on 79 minutes, the visitors hit the woodwork when the substitute’s chipped cross was headed onto the crossbar by Dovbyk.
Moments later, Marin hit the bar for Cagliari as he unleashed another ferocious strike but Svilar was equal to it, tipping the shot onto the bar.
As the home team, Cagliari would have wanted to kick off the new season with a win in front of their own fans but given Roma have dominated the Sardinian outfit for many years, they would be forgiven for being pleased with a point in the end.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nicola Zalewski (AS Roma)