Inter seemed to have a hangover from their Scudetto celebrations, suffering their second defeat of the season – both to Sassuolo – thanks to an Armand Laurienté effort.

The Neroverdi were desperate in penultimate place, plus Ruan Tressoldi was suspended with Samu Castillejo, Gregoire Defrel and Domenico Berardi injured, while Mattia Viti and Kristian Thorstvedt were not fully fit either. The Champions of Italy were out for revenge after the 2-1 defeat on September 27, their only Serie A loss of the season, and Davide Frattesi started against his old club.

See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.

Stefan de Vrij made a decisive sliding tackle to stop Matheus Henrique going clear, while Emil Audero got down quickly to palm away the Luca Lipani strike.

Lautaro Martinez came sliding in to meet a Denzel Dumfries cross and hit the side-netting, but Sassuolo opened the scoring after a Dumfries error.

The Dutchman was caught napping by Josh Doig near the corner flag, robbed and the ball pulled back for Armand Laurienté to sweep into the roof of the net first-time from 10 yards.

Dumfries had the opportunity to make up for it five minutes later when sent through by the Kristjan Asllani slide-rule pass, but his angled drive flashed across the face of goal.

Inter did get the ball in the net in first half stoppages when a Carlos Augusto strike was deflected into the path of Lautaro Martinez to tap in at the back post, but the VAR review confirmed that he was offside.

Marko Arnautovic had an angled drive charged down, as it turned into a siege on the entire Sassuolo team sitting back to defend their lead. Arnautovic also failed to turn in the Juan Cuadrado pull-back from the by-line thanks to a crucial Marash Kumbulla block and Lautaro Martinez ballooned over.

The result dents Inter’s hopes of achieving a club record number of points this season, but it gives Sassuolo unexpected hope of avoiding relegation.

Sassuolo 1-0 Inter

Laurienté 20 (S)

Player statistic

1st half
Armand Lauriente
(Assist: Josh Doig)
Goal 20'    
2nd half
    89' Yellow card Benjamin Pavard
Daniel Boloca Yellow card 90'    

Match statistic

24
Possession %
76
6
Total shots
14
2
Shots on target
1
2
Shots off target
6
2
Blocked shots
7
2
Corners
5
Offsides
7
10
Fouls
10
Sassuolo
Inter

Starting lineups

47
Goalkeeper
13
22
Defender
86'
43
Defender
19
Defender
5
Defender
42
Midfielder
59'
35
Midfielder
71'
7
Midfielder
86'
9
Attacker
45
Attacker
77
Goalkeeper
95
69'
28
Defender
2
Defender
60'
6
Defender
30
Midfielder
16
Midfielder
69'
22
Midfielder
60'
21
Midfielder
74'
70
Attacker
10

Substitutes

23
Midfielder
21
Defender
11
Midfielder
28
Goalkeeper
25
Goalkeeper
15
8
3
Defender
24
Midfielder
59'
14
Midfielder
71'
2
Defender
86'
6
Midfielder
86'
5
Midfielder
36
Defender
20
Midfielder
32
Defender
9
Attacker
1
Goalkeeper
12
Goalkeeper
31
Defender
7
Defender
60'
8
Attacker
60'
23
Midfielder
69'
17
Attacker
69'
14
Midfielder
74'

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