MILAN // Roberto Mancini was sent to the stands for dissent on his way to his first setback as Inter coach in his second spell at the club in a 4-2 defeat to Roma on Sunday.
Mancini’s first game in charge of the struggling Italian league giants, the Milan derby, ended in a 1-1 draw at the San Siro last week.
Read more: Roberto Mancini says “our objective is to get back to winning” at Inter Milan
The former Manchester City handler, who won seven trophies including three consecutive league titles with Inter in a previous four-year spell (2004-2008) in charge, led Inter to a 2-1 Europa League win over Dnipro on Thursday to secure entry to the last 32 of the competition.
But despite seeing Inter draw level twice at the Olympic Stadium, a late double from Miralem Pjanic gave the hosts a precious 4-2 win to close the gap to leaders Juventus to three points, and Mancini his first Serie A defeat of the campaign.
“We let Roma play too much, and when you let them close to goal they put you in difficulty,” Mancini told Sky Sport, although he played down his dismissal.
“You could see why from watching the game, but I’m not interested in talking about the referee.”
Inter defender Andrea Ranocchia brought the visitors level with a header from a corner late in the first half after Gervinho had given Roma a 21st minute lead with only his second goal of the campaign.
It was the first time Roma had conceded at home all season.
Inter fought back again thanks to former Roma striker Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, who levelled on 57 minutes after Jose Holebas had fired Roma into a 2-1 lead two minutes after the restart.
Pjanic grabbed the first of his brace only three minutes later, after Totti delivered in the area for the Bosnian to beat Samir Handanovic on the hour.
Mancini was sent to the stands a minute later after protesting a Holebas foul on Fredy Guarin.
Roma eventually wrapped up the points in the final minute of added-on time when Pjanic fired a 25-metre free-kick past Handanovic from the left flank.
Inter’s fourth defeat in 12 games mean they drop to 11th place, 17 points behind leaders Juventus but only six points behind the third place Mancini has set as an end-of-season target.
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