Inter on Sunday missed the chance to reclaim the Serie A summit after falling to a 2-0 home defeat to giant-killers US Sassuolo which allowed AC Milan to keep top spot.
First-half strikes from Giacomo Raspadori and Gianluca Scamacca gave Sassuolo an impressive win at the San Siro which left Inter two points behind Milan, who had opened the door for their local rivals with Saturday’s 2-2 draw at bottom side US Salernitana 1919.
It was the latest triumph for Sassuolo at one of Italy’s big three after also winning at Milan and Juventus this season.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We created a lot, and we conceded a fair amount, too, but we know we have quality, so we faced them head on,” Sassuolo coach Alessio Dionisi told DAZN. “That’s what we wanted to do and we were rewarded for it.”
The ball was in SSC Napoli’s court in an exciting three-way title race, as Luciano Spalletti’s side, who sat a point behind Inter in third, could move top on goal-difference with a win at Cagliari yesterday.
Simone Inzaghi’s side were missing midfield lynchpin Marcelo Brozovic and starting centerback Alessandro Bastoni to suspension, and looked tired after their midweek defeat to Liverpool.
“We’ll try to recover some physical and mental energy. We’re still in the fight, there are still 13 matches left and we want to keep going,” Inzaghi said.
Inter’s current fragility was exposed in the eighth minute when, after Berardi pinched the ball from Hakan Calhanoglu, he fed Raspadori, who hit a low shot which squirmed past goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.
Scamacca, who is hotly tipped to move to Inter alongside teammate Davide Frattesi in the summer, stunned the home fans when he drifted into the penalty area unmarked and headed home his 10th Serie A goal of the season from Hamed Traore’s inswinging cross.
The away side could have easily been three goals up at halftime after Domenico Berardi thumped a beautiful shot off the bar in the 38th minute.
Inter only had themselves to blame for not having made more of a game of it, as a wave of second-half pressure brought enough chances to at least escape with a draw.
The worst offender was Lautaro Martinez, who left Inter fans opened-mouthed in the 72nd minute when he somehow poked wide with an open goal at his mercy.
Earlier, Krzysztof Piatek fired ACF Fiorentina firmly into the UEFA Champions League race with the only goal in a 1-0 win over out-of-form Atalanta BC.
Poland international Piatek netted a well-taken fifth goal in six appearances in all competitions since returning to Italy from FSV Mainz 05 in January to move Fiorentina up to seventh, five points behind fourth-placed Juventus.
Vincenzo Italiano’s side also have a game in hand on Juve, whose 1-1 draw with Torino on Friday had given Atalanta the chance to move up one place into fourth with a win in Florence.
However, they offered very little once Ruslan Malinovskyi was denied an equalizer shortly after going behind for Hans Hateboer straying marginally offside and being judged to have interfered with play.
That decision so enraged coach Gian Piero Gasperini that he was sent off and refused to speak to the media afterward, while the club posted an image of the move highlighting Malinovskyi’s onside position with the message “judge for yourself.”
Also in the Champions League mix are SS Lazio, who shorn of Serie A’s leading scorer Ciro Immobile, Luis Alberto and Lucas Leiva could only draw 1-1 at Udinese.
Maurizio Sarri’s side would have moved to within two points of the top four with a win, but could not add to their tally after Felipe Anderson struck on the stroke of halftime to equalize Gerard Deulofeu’s early opener for the hosts.
Elsewhere, Venezia were held to a 1-1 draw at home by second-from-bottom Genoa.
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