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Palermo got back on track with a much-needed victory, but made hard work of it with Edison Cavani scoring for both sides.
It was the last chance saloon for Francesco Guidolin and his team of "little girls" after President Maurizio Zamparini came down hard on the Rosanero. The 3-1 defeat to Torino was humiliating and with four losses from the last five games, failure to beat bottom of the table Cagliari would be a disaster. To make matters worse, stars Amauri, Fabrizio Miccoli and Roberto Guana were suspended, so Edison Cavani was trusted in attack.
Cagliari hadn't lost here in Serie A since December 2004 and won 3-1 last season. The visitors got off to a strong start, as Federico Balzaretti required a sliding tackle to block Jeda's shot from the penalty spot.
Alberto Fontana got down well to smother a Daniele Conti angled drive and a Pasquale Foggia snapshot. On 21 minutes veteran Fontana flew to fingertip a Jeda scorcher out from under the crossbar and the Brazilian stopped to applaud his opponent.
Cagliari were dominating, but Palermo broke the deadlock. A Bosko Jankovic free kick was turned back into the centre by Tedesco for Cavani's final touch.
There was more bad news for the Sardinians, who lost Michele Ferri to an upper thigh injury. Marco Storari did well to capture a cheeky Giuseppe Biava lob.
In the final minute of the first half the Rosanero made it a 2-0 cushion. Cavani and Mattia Cassani combined for Jankovic to spring the offside trap and quickly slide the shot low past the on-rushing Storari.
Cagliari got back into the game after the restart with help from Cavani, as the Uruguayan accidentally nodded a Conti corner kick into his own net!
Either side could win it now and Tedesco fired over with the outside of his right foot before Balzaretti's cross just missed both Bresciano and Cavani. Parola had a strong shot from distance that skimmed the bar.
Coach Guidolin saw red for dissent on 76 minutes and Caserta cut back for Mark Bresciano to hit the side-netting.
Deep into stoppages Fontana saved the day again with a magnificent reaction save on Under-21 international Robert Acquafresca's header.
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