“It was a match where we almost always controlled our opponents,” he said, “and they never managed a shot on goal in the first half. In the second half I changed the playing system with Coutinho on the left and I inserted [Ricardo] Alvarez. I’m satisfied with our performance.”
On the problem experienced by playmaker Wesley Sneijder during the warm-up, the coach commented: “He felt a pain after taking his last shot, he wanted to play just the same but it was pointless to risk losing the player during the match. I didn’t let him play to have him available for Tuesday [in the Champions League].”
The coach also admitted Thiago Motta’s opening goal was in fact offside: “It’s true, from the images Motta’s goal is offside. For once we have some luck [with the referees]… The linesman probably didn’t see [Giampaolo] Pazzini’s deflection.”
On his Cagliari counterpart Davide Ballardini’s complaints about the refereeing, Ranieri said: “Perhaps Ballardini has been abroad, and hasn’t seen what has happened to Inter. This has been the first favorable refereeing incident in our favor. I can understand that Ballardini is upset, but their first shot on goal came in the 60th minute…”
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This article was originally posted by Danilo Pochini