Mancini furious with Inter strikers after draw

MILAN (Reuters) – Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini publicly criticised his forwards on Sunday, saying he could have converted one of the chances they missed and jokingly asking if he could borrow Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain.

Angry after Inter were held 1-1 at home by lowly Carpi, Mancini said that even he, at 51, would have done better than Mauro Icardi with one effort and told his forwards they could not simply wait for the ball to come to them.

Inter’s Serie A title challenge has faltered badly in the last few weeks and a run of three home matches without a win, including two defeats, has left them in joint third, six points behind leaders Napoli.

On Sunday, Rodrigo Palacio gave them a first-half lead but Carpi levelled with the last kick of the game when they had been reduced to 10 men after Lorenzo Pasciuti was sent off and after Icardi had missed a chance to score a second on the break

“Even past the age of 50, I would have scored that goal,” said Mancini. “You have to score there, you just have to.”

“We have a problem which is that we never manage to score more than one goal in a game,” he said. “It’s just no good waiting for the ball to come to you.”

Mancini said Inter were creating the chances but needed to be more intelligent in how they finished them off.

“When it’s 1-0 and the game’s in the balance with 92 minutes on the clock, we should have managed possession better or taken the ball to the corner flag, if necessary,” he added.

“By the looks of it, we’ll have to go on the market and buy another striker.”

Inter have managed only 26 goals in 21 matches this season and have scored more than once in a match on only three occasions.

Leaders Napoli, in contrast, have scored 45 with Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain alone netting 21.

“If (Napoli coach) Maurizio Sarri wants to lend me Higuain, that would be fine for me,” joked Mancini.

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne, editing by Alan Baldwin)