MILAN: Inter Milan suffered another setback with a 3-1 defeat at Sassuolo in a bad-tempered Serie A match which was marred by skirmishes, red cards and a clash between two players and their own fans on Sunday.
Inter's Mauro Icardi and Fredy Guarin were angered when they threw their shirts into the crowd at the end of the match and the supporters hurled them straight back.
The pair began arguing with the fans and thumping their chests before team mate Andrea Ranocchia led them away.
Two spectacular first-half goals from Simone Zaza and Nicola Sansone put modest Sassuolo in charge as they avenged their 7-0 thrashing by Inter earlier in the season.
Icardi pulled one back for Roberto Mancini's side but Domenico Berardi's stoppage time penalty sealed the victory for Sassuolo who moved two points above Inter in the table.
Inter, joint 12th with 26 points, have won only two out of 10 Serie A games and taken 10 points since Mancini replaced Walter Mazzarri in November and a Champions League place, their original target, now looks a remote possibility.
Ironically, they had a much better record before Mazzarri was sacked, with 16 points from 11 games.
Yet Mancini insisted he was on the right track, just as he had after the previous Sunday's 1-0 defeat by Torino.
"The team began well, had two chances and conceded a goal with Sassuolo's first chance," he told touchline reporters. "We are trying to play and we didn't deserve to lose the last two games."
Inter had won all three previous meetings against Sassuolo, scoring 15 goals without reply, but Zaza quickly put that right as he collected a loose ball, turned and rifled a shot into the top corner after 17 minutes.
Not to be outdone, Sansone collected the ball near the touchline, cut inside and scored with another rocket 12 minutes later.
Icardi pulled one back eight minutes from time after pouncing on a poor backpass, prompting a scuffle between the players, but Berardi's penalty ended Inter's hopes after Zaza was fouled by Isaac Donkor, who was given a second yellow card.
Shortly before the penalty, Sansone was also sent off for a late tackle on Xherdan Shaqiri, which instigated another unsightly melee on the pitch.
Comments
Comments are closed.