Serie A champions Sassuolo denied new champions Inter the chance to reach 100 goals this season with a valuable 1-0 win at the Mapei Stadium. Armand Lauriente’s first-half goal was decisive in Emilia-Romagna as Davide Ballardini’s side pulled off an unlikely league win against the league’s best team.

Maybe overconfident after lifting 20i.e Scudetto, Inter failed to avenge a 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture in September. Instead, relegation-threatened Sassuolo took a big step towards securing salvation by remaining the only team to win in Serie A. Nerazzurri this season – not once but twice!

Despite going without a win in six straight league games before this match, Sassuolo toppled Simone Inzaghi’s experimental side courtesy of Lauriente on 20.i.e-minute winner. Inter got an equalizer which was disallowed after a long VAR review towards the end of the first half.

However, the visitors failed to create much in the second half and ended their 28-match Serie A unbeaten streak. In one of their worst performances of the season, Inzaghi’s men managed just one shot on target. Let’s take a look at Inter’s ratings.

Inter (3-5-2)

Emil Audero – 6

Apart from the goal, substitute Yann Sommer only had to make one save as Inter denied Sassuolo many chances.

Benjamin Pavard – 5

An erratic display from the former Bayern Munich defender saw him escape without a red in the closing stages after committing some seriously cowardly fouls on Lauriente.

Stefan de Vrij – 6.5

The Dutchman was slow to block the Sassuolo winner but he was rock solid tonight, winning multiple duels against Andrea Pinamonti.

Alessandro Bastoni – 6.5

Like De Vrij, the Italian kept up the fight tonight, although he was not as active in the build-up as against Milan and Torino in the last two rounds.

Carlos Augusto – 6

Came on for Federico Dimarco, but his passes weren’t nearly as tough to tackle as the Italian, although he did have some decent runs down the flanks either side of the half.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 5.5

Whether it was fatigue or complacency, the veteran midfielder was unable to make an impact on the game before being taken off on the hour mark.

Kristján Asllani – 5

Took Hakan Calhanoglu’s place in the heart of Inzaghi’s midfield but came nowhere near the high standards of the Turkish star.

David Frattesi – 6

Despite looking lively for most of the first half, the Italy international failed to make the difference against his former club.

Denzel Dumchips – 6.5

While the attacking full-back completed some bursting runs down the right, his poor decision-making often let him down in crucial areas.

Alexis Sanchez – 6.5

The Chilean striker was supposed to let Marcus Thuram’s absence go unnoticed, but that was not the case despite his best efforts to inspire Inter to a vicious goal at Mapei.

Lautaro Martinez – 6

Had a goal disallowed for offside on the stroke of half-time, but otherwise the Inter captain had a frustrating night, barely seeing a goal as Sassuolo’s defenders kept him calm.

Substitutes

Juan Cuadrado – 6.5

Marko Arnautovic – 5.5

Tajon Buchanan – 7

Nicolo Barella – 6

Davy Klassen – 5.5