Mancini critical of laboursome Inter

Inter coach Roberto Mancini criticised his team after they made hard work of a 2-1 win at Udinese, despite the hosts having two players sent off.

Goals from Mauro Icardi and Lukas Podolski sealed a Serie A win that ensured Inter's hopes of a Europa League place were kept alive.

But Mancini was disappointed that Udinese, who had Maurizio Domizzi and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu dismissed, were still pushing to level the match in the last minute. 

"I don't understand why, after the two red cards, some of our players stopped playing and started to play around," Mancini told Sky Sport Italia.

"Sometimes we don't think. The brain is made to think and should be used. It looked like a match at the end of the summer - not good. 

"The team played very well, 11 against 11. Udinese is also in good shape. But the attitude after that is not good. We cannot afford that."

He added: "We played well up until the second red card. It seemed as if no one wanted to score a goal, and then there can be a goal in the melee in the end, as was about to happen."

Udinese cancelled out Icardi's opener when Antonio Di Natale struck a quick equaliser to make it 1-1 early in the second half, but substitute Podolski scored with only his second touch to win the game.

On the chances of keeping Podolski at Inter beyond his loan spell from Arsenal, Mancini said: "The agreement is that he will return to London at the end of the loan. But I’m happy for him, because he is a serious professional."