Inter Milan Coach Simone Inzaghi Reacts To 0-1 Empoli Loss: “Can’t Be Conceding A Goal Like That, Not Expecting Apology From Skriniar For Red Card”

Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi is disappointed to have seen his side fall to a home defeat in Serie A to Empoli after conceding a second-half goal to midfielder Tommaso Baldanzi.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster DAZN after the match, via FCInterNews, the coach gave the view that the decisive goal was conceded too cheaply, and also made clear that he does not expect an apology from defender Milan Skriniar for an unfortunately-timed red card.

Inter’s momentum from the Supercoppa Italiana last week came to a screeching halt on a night where nothing seemed to go right for them at the San Siro.

After a sloppy first half, Skriniar received a second yellow which meant that Inzaghi’s team had to play the rest of the match with ten men.

The Nerazzurri probed in attack during the second period but created relatively little, whilst Empoli looked dangerous going the other way.

The Tuscans made their numerical advantage tell with a strike from young midfielder Baldanzi in the second half, but from Inzaghi’s perspective, his team had to do better.

“We weren’t at our best, and we came up against an opponent with real quality,” Inzaghi said after the match.

“We conceded a goal on the counter, and we pushed to equalize but this is a loss that really slows us down,” he continued.

Asked whether he could have put on more strikers later in the match, the coach said that “Sure, in hindsight I could have, but I wanted to keep the formation as we had struggled in possession in the first half.”

“Then we conceded right as we were getting back into the match, and we lost our cohesion,” he went on.

“This is a defeat that strings,” Inzaghi noted, “we finish the first half of the season with 37 points and many regrets, now we know we’ll have to do better over the second part.”

Further explaining why he didn’t switch to a back four until late in the match, the coach explained that “Cambiaghi and Caputo attacked us very well, so I wanted to keep the same setup, and then I eventually changed it up late on.”

“Even before the sending-off we were not at our best,” he added.

Of Empoli’s second-half goal, Inzaghi said that “We conceded a counter even after I’d told the team to keep things balanced.”

“We responded quite well,” he said of his team’s start to the second half, “but Baldanzi did well, and there was a bit of luck to it as well.”

“I was getting ready to make substitutions, but then we conceded the kind of goal that we can’t be conceding when we’re a man down,” the coach rued.

And asked whether he expects an apology from defender Skriniar for the fateful red card, Inzaghi made clear that “Absolutely not, he committed two fouls that I’ll have to look at back.”

“At the moment I was perplexed, but I don’t want to talk about the referee,” he continued.

The coach made clear that “Skriniar is an exemplary professional who always trains and plays at top level.”