Fans walk out to ‘have lunch’ as Inter lose again
Inter Milan’s hardcore fans walked out of the San Siro during the first half, saying they were going to have lunch, as their sorry team lost 2-1 to Sassuolo on Sunday, their fourth defeat in a row.
Inter’s decision to sack coach Stefano Pioli on Tuesday failed to galvanise the team who have failed to win any of their last eight league games and taken only two points during that run.
Pietro Iemmello scored both goals for Sassuolo as Inter dropped to eighth in the table, two places and four points adrift of the last Europa League place with two games left to play. Pioli was dismissed on Tuesday and replaced on a caretaker basis by youth team coach Stefano Vecchi. Inter were greeted by banners of protest from the Curva Nord as they entered the stadium, such as one which read “2016-17 season, let’s be merciful and throw a veil over it.”
After around 25 minutes, and with the score still goalless, a large number of fans walked out, leaving behind the banner: “You don’t deserve our support, we came to say hello, now we’re off to have lunch.”
“We knew about the protests and the fans are right because they don’t identify with this team,” said Vecchi.
won the Dutch league title on Sunday after veteran striker Dirk Kuyt scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 home win over Heracles Almelo that left them one-point clear of arch rivals Ajax Amsterdam.
Kuyt, the club’s 36-year-old captain, scored after 40 seconds to set the Rotterdam side on their way to the win they needed for a first title in 18 years.