Sulley Muntari drew first blood for Udinese with a goal one minute before the interval, but Davide Marchini fired the hosts level midway through the second period.

The Bianconeri's chances of taking all the points took a knock after 80 minutes when Vincenzo Iaquinta received a straight red for violent conduct, and Cagliari substitute Andrea Capone made the visitors pay as he popped up with the winner five minutes from time.

The victory snaps Cagliari's three-game winless streak, although they remain just three points above the relegation zone and face tricky fixtures against Fiorentina and Roma between now and the end of the season.

Defeat for Udinese leaves them mired in mid-table purgatory, with neither a relegation battle nor a challenge for a European berth likely to play out in the coming weeks.

The Bianconeri have slipped to 10th in the standings, nine points clear of the relegation zone and eight adrift of the final UEFA Cup berth with just three games remaining.

The Rossoblu enjoyed what chances there where in a tight and nervy start to the match, Marchini getting his eye in after 18 minutes with a right-footed shot that rose over the crossbar.

And four minutes later Simone Pepe continued the pressure on the visiting goal with header from Alessandro Budel's cross that arrowed off-target.

In the 31st minute Pepe again appeared the man most likely to break the deadlock with a powerful long-range effort that drew a top-drawer stop from Udinese keeper Morgan De Sanctis.

Eight minutes later, Pepe, who is on loan at Cagliari from co-owners Udinese and Palermo, again terrorised his parent club with a telling cross that Davide Suazo got a powerful header to, only for De Sanctis to again stand strong.

Having watched his side boss the play for 44 minutes, Cagliari coach Marco Giampaolo will have been aghast to witness his troops fall a goal behind on the stroke of half-time.

Iaquinta created the goal, his precise pass picking out Muntari on the edge of the box, and the Ghana international made no mistake with a thumping finish into the top right-hand corner of the net.

Into the second period, the visitors, inspired by their lead, began to dictate the pace a little more, and Iaquinta soon had home hearts aflutter with a powerful drive from the edge of the box that flew just over.

Gaetano D'Agostino also came close for Udinese after 58 minutes, but the midfielder was narrowly off-target with a left-footed drive.

Cagliari's Antonio D'Agostino then almost went one better than his namesake after 65 minutes, but his header from Francesco Pisano's centre was kept out by De Sanctis.

But the home crowd didn't have too much longer to wait to pull level, and 60 seconds later the goal arrived from the boot of Marchini .

Suazo created the chance with a telling through-ball, and the 26-year-old midfielder was unerring with a low finish into the left of the net.

The lead almost came the way of the hosts after 73 minutes when Pisano grazed the post from the edge of the six-yard box, but the actions of Iaquinta soon handed Cagliari the advantage.

The Italy international received his marching orders 10 minutes from time after lashing out with an elbow on Budel after the two had gone up for an aerial challenge.

And Cagliari's numerical advantage soon told as Capone stole in with the winner just three minutes after entering the fray, his tame left-footed shot from the edge of the box somehow eluding De Sanctis and nestling in the bottom right-hand corner.