05 January 2015
With just one win in their last seven Serie A matches, Inter have endured a tough overall start to their Serie A campaign, with inconsistent results prompting the removal of Walter Mazzarri from the Nerazzurri dugout midway through the month of November.
A solid four-game unbeaten introduction to the 2014/15 term, in which Sassuolo and Atalanta were sent packing by a total of nine strikes in two games at the San Siro, soon gave way to a more difficult period as the Nerazzurri struggled to recapture their goalscoring touch.
Defeats to Cagliari (4-1) and Fiorentina (3-0) provided a sign of the patchy form that was to follow, before a 2-2 draw with Napoli and back-to-back 1-0 wins over Cesena and Sampdoria raised hopes that Inter had turned the corner.
But a 2-0 reverse away at basement side Parma and a 2-2 home draw against Hellas Verona spelled the end of the road for Mazzarri, whose replacement, Roberto Mancini, had to wait until his fourth Serie A fixture before tasting victory, Chievo succumbing to a 2-0 reverse on their own patch.
The new boss, in his second managerial spell with the Nerazzurri, will however have been impressed with the character shown during a two-goal fightback against Lazio in the last game before the winter break.
Goals from Mateo Kovacic and Rodrigo Palacio rescued the hosts from the jaws of defeat, cancelling out Felipe Anderson’s first-half double to earn a point that keeps Inter in 11th place ahead of Tuesday night’s Derby d’Italia with Juventus in Turin.
