Champions Inter Milan stunned again by relegation fighters Sassuolo | football news

Sassuolo beat newly-crowned Italian champions Inter Milan 1-0 for the second time this season on Saturday, keeping their hopes of staying in Serie A alive. Armand Lorient’s powerful first-time strike in the 20th minute gave his team the first chance. A run of seven matches and a victory over Sassuolo at the San Siro in late September came at Inter’s first league defeat. “We didn’t play the game well, but after their goal we improved. We probably deserved the equalizer at half-time,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi told Sky Sports.

“But even though we tried to change things, we didn’t do much in the second half. We should have done more.”

Davide Ballardini’s side are still second from bottom, three points from safety, and face a huge challenge if they are to stay in Serie A with three matches remaining in their campaign.

Udinese is level with Sassuolo on 29 points and sit just inside the drop zone ahead of their home match with Napoli on Monday night.

Two points above that pair are Empoli and Frosinone, who face each other on Sunday afternoon, and Verona who host Fiorentina.

Saturday’s win was Sassuolo’s 10th win over Inter since being promoted to Serie A for the first time in 2013, more than the traditional small club has against any other top division team.

They narrowly defeated second-place Inter, who won their 20th league title last month, and are in cruise control until the end of a winning campaign.

Inter were denied a leveler on the stroke of half-time when Lautaro Martínez’s close-range finish was ruled out for offside, but otherwise nothing was awarded.

Martínez is Serie A’s leading scorer but is stuck on 23 league goals since the end of February, while Inter failed to score in a league match for the first time this season.

Earlier, Lazio’s bid to reach the Champions League was entertainingly sabotaged by Milan Juric’s stoppage-time leveler in a 2-2 draw at Monza.

Juric scored the second of two spectacular headers in the 92nd minute, his eighth league goal of the season away to mid-table Monza, keeping Lazio in seventh place.

A win would have moved Lazio one point behind local rivals Roma, who occupy the fifth and final Champions League spot and host Juventus on Sunday night.

Instead fans were disappointed to see their team fall behind twice in each half after going ahead through Ciro Immobile and Matias Vecino.

Foreign supporters clashed with Lazio players after the match, as defender Adam Marusic lost his temper with a fan due to a lecture by the visiting extremists after the match and captain Immobile had to calm him down.

It has been a troubled season for Lazio as previous coach Maurizio Sarri stepped down in March and star midfielder Luis Alberto wanted to leave in October despite signing a contract extension until 2027.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)