De Boer encouraged as Inter's wait continues

Inter coach Frank de Boer claimed his side deserved to take three points from their 1-1 home draw with Palermo on Sunday.

The Sicilian side have never beaten Inter at San Siro in Serie A and had conceded 22 goals in their previous seven matches away to the Nerazzurri in all competitions, but they were on track to end that miserable run when Andrea Rispoli's deflected effort gave them the lead early in the second half.

Mauro Icardi levelled things up for Inter 18 minutes from time, however, and De Boer felt his players created enough chances to have won the game comfortably.

"I think we played much better than last week, so we are all disappointed with the result," he said.

"We could've won 4-1 considering the way we played in the second half. 

"We are not 100 per cent happy, but it's early days. 

"We changed some little details and I am confident we can get three points in the next games.

"We were unlucky to concede a goal with Palermo's first attempt, but today the team created a great deal."

Inter improved upon the performance they produced in a shock opening-day defeat at Chievo and, like De Boer, defender Jeison Murillo felt the hosts should have claimed the victory.

"We're disappointed that we didn't manage to pick up the three points in front of our own fans, but we worked hard and kept fighting," he said.

"There's room for improvement and that's what we'll work towards.

"Credit to Palermo tonight, but we gave everything and created several chances."

Antonio Candreva impressed during his cameo off the bench, providing the cross for Icardi's equaliser and going close to scoring a late winner with a volley that flew narrowly over the bar.

And De Boer was quick to praise the impact made by the Italy international.

"We have a lot of quality in the squad and he could've started," he said.

"He did very well, you can see he wanted to make the difference."

Palermo coach Davide Ballardini, meanwhile, knows the visitors came close to bringing their San Siro hoodoo to an end.

"We threatened to win here," he said, "because after going 1-0 up we could've closed it [out].

"I compliment my team, as a draw is a creditable result in Milan. 

"Our performance was also decent against Sassuolo, despite the defeat, so I expected similar."

Next on the agenda for Palermo, following the international break, is a home clash with Napoli, while Inter visit Pescara.