Promoted Novara pile more misery on Inter
Reuters - Tuesday 20 September 2011, 21:36
Inter Milan's miserable start to
the season continued with a shock 3-1 defeat at promoted Novara
on Tuesday heaping the pressure on beleaguered coach Gian Piero
Gasperini.
Riccardo Meggiorini gave Novara a first-half lead and Marco
Rigoni scored twice in the last five minutes as Novara won for
the first time since returning to Serie A after a 55-year wait.
Esteban Cambiasso pulled one back for Inter whose captain
Javier Zanetti was making a club record 757th appearance.
Inter have taken only one point from three Serie A games
this season under new coach Gasperini and also lost at home to
Turkey's Trabzonspor in the Champions League last week having
already been beaten by AC Milan in the Italian Super Cup.
Gasperini has never managed a top side before and his future
is already the subject of speculation, with president Massimo
Moratti saying he would prefer a four-man defence to the coach's
much-criticised three-man formation.
Novara could have scored in the first minute when Cristian
Chivu's misplaced pass went to Meggiorini but he fired over.
Meggiorini made no mistake in the 38th, however, finishing a
counter-attack with a left-foot shot after Inter again lost
possession in midfield.
Inter never looked confident, with Wesley Sneijder and Diego
Forlan being substituted midway through the second half.
Their frustration was best summed by a yellow card for
diving shwon to central defender Lucio.
It got worse in the 85th minute when Takayuki Morimoto was
bundled over in the area by Andrea Ranocchia, who was sent off,
and Rigoni fired in the penalty.
Cambiasso pulled one back in the 89th, the first time Inter
had threatened, only for Rigoni to score again in added-time by
slotting in a rebound after more mayhem in the visiting defence.