Roberto Mancini suffered his second straight defeat as Inter coach after a shock 2-1 reverse to Udinese left his side in 12th spot in Serie A on Sunday.
A week after a 4-2 defeat away to AS Roma, Inter welcomed former boss Andrea Stramaccioni back to the San Siro for the first time since he was sacked at the end of last season.
Stramaccioni’s Udinese were looking to end a five-game winless streak and the 38-year-old managed to do just that after a composed and determined performance by the northern club.
Photo: EPA
However, he told Sky Sport afterward that Inter and their staff are “still close to my heart,” adding: “Some things you don’t forget. It would have been better to beat [AC] Milan.”
Mauro Icardi gave the hosts a first-half lead on the stroke of halftime, but Bruno Fernandes leveled on the hour before Frenchman Cyril Thereau restored Udinese’s lead seven minutes later.
The Nerazzurri have now failed to win their past five games and Mancini — who took over from the sacked Walter Mazzarri last month — hit out at his men’s lack of focus in the second half.
“I don’t understand the drop [in quality] between the first and the second half,” Mancini told Sky Sport. “In the first we did well and should have even scored more goals. In the second half, we sat back and let Udinese play, but what angers me most is our attitude changing when we concede a goal — a game lasts 93 minutes, you have to keep on pressing.”
It was Udinese’s first win since a 2-0 home defeat of Atalanta BC on Oct. 26 and moved them up to eighth, 14 points behind leaders Juventus and level on points with seventh-placed Milan.
Inter remain 12th, 18 points off the pace and nine behind third-placed Genoa in the third and last UEFA Champions League spot.
On a weekend that saw the top three — Juventus, Roma and SSC Napoli — held to draws, Genoa were among the few top-five teams left celebrating.
Genoa moved up to third ahead of stuttering Napoli with a battling 1-0 home win over Milan thanks to Luca Antonelli’s first-half header, which gave the Rossoneri their first away loss of the season.
Milan had been unbeaten in their past eight outings against Genoa.
“It’s a surprise being in this position, but we deserve every single point,” Genoa coach Gian Piero Gasperini told Sky Sports.
Napoli fell to fourth, two points adrift of Genoa, after a listless 2-2 draw at home with Empoli.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Atalanta were 3-2 winners over AC Cesena, while SS Lazio ran out 2-1 victors at Parma, who found out just before the game that the club is on the verge of being sold, possibly to buyers from Russia and Cyprus.
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