‘Disrespectful’ Mancini hit with fine, ban

Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini has been handed a fine and a one-match ban by Serie A officials following a series of incidents at Sunday’s 3-0 derby defeat to AC Milan.
Mancini was sent from the touchlines in the second half after arguing with the fourth official when the referee failed to award a penalty after Milan ‘keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma clashed with striker Eder.
As Mancini was entering the players’ tunnel, he offered a one-fingered gesture to AC Milan supporters and then afterwards was involved in a foul-mouthed rant on live television. A Serie A statement yesterday said Mancini “was disrespectful towards the referee in the sixth minute of the second half.
“When he was faced with expulsion from the touchlines he insulted the fourth official and then directed an insulting gesture towards fans, an infringement that was caught on camera afterwards.”
As well as paying a 5,000-euro fine, Mancini will now watch from the stands when Inter host Chievo tomorrow looking to secure their first win in five games. Mancini admitted to media afterwards he had gestured to Milan fans “who were insulting me. I was being verbally abused and ended up doing what I did.”
He added: “I don’t agree with a lot of the referee’s decisions tonight, some of them were disastrous. In saying that, we lost 3-0 and so we have some problems to resolve.”
Mancini is set for crunch talks at the club after a crushing derby defeat.  The 164th ‘Derby della Madonnina’—as the fixture is commonly known—turned in favour of hosts Milan when Inter striker Mauro Icardi’s 70th minute penalty came off the post.
Inter’s heads dropped and Milan capitalised with two quick goals in succession from Carlos Bacca and M’Baye Niang adding to Alex’s 35th minute opener to hand Mancini’s men their heaviest derby defeat since a 3-0 reverse in April 2011.
Inter remain in fourth place but are now nine points adrift of leaders Napoli, who thumped Empoli 5-1 at home the same day as champions Juventus routed Chievo 4-0 in Verona to stay within two points. In a matter of weeks, Inter’s title bid has slipped dramatically and reports on Monday claimed relations between Mancini and Argentine striker Icardi are so bad the club are considering selling him for a cut price of 25million euros ($27million) on the final day of transfer action.
Inter are now winless in their past four league outings, and have scored only two goals in that time. The Nerazzurri moved to remedy the drought by snapping up Eder from Sampdoria last Friday, but a promising start by the Brazil-born Italy striker failed to produce much-needed goals.
When Inter were rewarded a penalty for handball by Alex, Icardi stepped up in confident fashion. The under-fire Argentinian did himself no favours by hitting a game-changing penalty against the post.
Icardi has hit only eight league goals this term. Last season, Icardi shared the top scorer’s ‘Capocannoniere’ prize with Luca Toni after both hit 22 goals.
Mancini last week publicly lambasted his misfiring front men when they failed to convert a series of chances before 10-man Carpi fought back to level 1-1 at the death. “I’m 51 years old and even I would have scored some of those goals,” Mancini said after last week’s draw.
Mancini failed to point the finger at Icardi on Sunday but the crushing defeat to Inter’s bitter rivals has left its mark on the former Manchester City manager. “It’s definitely the worst January of my coaching career,” Mancini told Inter Channel.
“I’m sorry for the fans and I apologise for how we lost the derby, but we’ll get over this difficult period and get back to winning. I’m 100 percent sure of that.” Inter have a chance to remedy the situation when they host Chievo tomorrow.