Roberto Mancini blamed the referee for Inter’s 2-1 defeat to Napoli. “The red card was absurd and we didn’t deserve to lose.”

Gonzalo Higuain scored a brace before Adem Ljajic’s strike, but Yuto Nagatomo received a second yellow card before half-time.

“I think it was a wonderful game apart from the first 15 minutes, as we made a mistake,” Mancini told Sky Sport Italia.

Roberto Mancini blamed the referee for Inter’s 2-1 defeat to Napoli. “The red card was absurd and we didn’t deserve to lose.”

Gonzalo Higuain scored a brace before Adem Ljajic’s strike, but Yuto Nagatomo received a second yellow card before half-time.

“I think it was a wonderful game apart from the first 15 minutes, as we made a mistake,” Mancini told Sky Sport Italia.

“After that it was a balanced encounter, Napoli didn’t cause that many problems considering they are one of the favourites for the Scudetto.

“Unfortunately the red card was absurd. It was an error from the referee, because the first yellow card was Jose Callejon simulating. The second Nagatomo could’ve been more careful and shouldn’t have gone in like that.

“In a game like this, you can’t book a player in Napoli’s midfield, it wasn’t a scoring opportunity or anything.

“The problem also is that Medel and Melo were on a yellow card and Kondogbia injured. Seeing as we get booked for sneezing nowadays, I preferred to keep an important player on the bench rather than risk losing both to a ban. I have to think of the next games too.

“Higuain is a remarkable striker, he only needs half a chance and he scores. Higuain certainly makes an enormous difference and so did Pepe Reina this evening.”

Inter hit the woodwork twice in the final 40 seconds of the match, including a sensational Reina fingertip save on Joao Miranda.

“To be honest, from the bench we thought at least one of them had gone in, as the vision wasn’t very clear from there.

“Even down to 10 men, we only really risked on the Napoli counter. That too should give us confidence going forward. It was a difficult match, one we absolutely did not deserve to lose. We can build on that.

“I have always been aware of the team’s strength and that we can work hard to improve a great deal. Some might not like our style, but that’s football.”

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