Inter boss Simone Inzaghi concedes his side performed below expectations in a dismal 2-0 home defeat to Sassuolo. However, the Italian manager is adamant that the Nerazzurri deserved to get on the scoresheet.
Sassuolo took the lead via Giacomo Raspadori only eight minutes in the game following Hakan Calhanoglu’s mistake inside Inter’s half. Though the home side rallied their troops and put the Neroverdi under pressure, poor communication at the back saw Gianluca Scamacca put clear daylight between the sides midway through the first half.
Little did anyone know it would eventually be the final score, especially following the hosts’ enormous pressure after the break. Inzaghi introduced Edin Dzeko and Denzel Dumfries in the second half as part of his bid to overcome a two-goal deficit but to no avail.
Inter came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, but a lack of a finishing touch let them down one too many times. The reigning Serie A champions thought they pulled one back through Stefan de Vrij deep in the injury time. But their hopes of completing a late turnaround were short-lived as the VAR disallowed the goal.
Inter wasted a glorious opportunity to regain control at the top of the Serie A table after Milan’s underwhelming 2-2 draw with Salernitana on Saturday. And their disappointing result against mid-table Sassuolo left Inzaghi in despair.
“In the second half, we created a lot of chances,” the ex-Lazio manager said as relayed by SempreInter. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get a goal back in front of our fans who, nevertheless, gave us a lot.”
Inzaghi thanked the Giuseppe Meazza crowd, who never stopped believing in the comeback, even though Inter had a sloppy game by their high standards.
“Even today the fans urged us along, a goal for 2-1 would have put the match right back in the balance. It wasn’t our best evening, but surely we deserved at least one goal.“
The Inter boss also heaped praise on Sassuolo.
“We knew we were facing a difficult match, we took the wrong approach, we knew that Sassuolo are technically good and play good football.
“We had to do better in the first half even if we had recently played some difficult and tiring matches. Now we must try to regain our physical and mental energy.“