Mancini slams Veron's red card

Inter coach Roberto Mancini has slammed the decision of French referee Eric Poulat to red-card Juan Sebastian Veron during his side's 1-0 win in their Champions League opener against Artmedia Bratislava.

A Julio Cruz strike gave Inter the lead against the unfancied Slovaks in the 17th minute of Tuesday's game, but the Italian side had to endure a nervy second half after the Argentine midfielder received a second yellow card for taking a free-kick before the wall had been moved back the regulation distance.

His expulsion will rule him out of Inter's next Champions League match against Scottish champions Rangers on September 28 and left Mancini fuming.

"It really was incredible. The referee asked if he wanted the wall to be moved back, he answered no, took his shot and was then sent off," the 40-year-old coach was quoted as saying in La Gazzetta dello Sport yesterday.

"I can say in this case the referee made a mistake."

Overall, however, Mancini admitted he was satisfied with his team's performance, particularly after their disappointing 3-2 defeat against Serie A rivals Palermo at the weekend.

"The important thing was to come back and win straight away and show that what happened (in Palermo) was just an isolated episode," he said.

"That does not mean that we can forget about what happened there. I'm happy with our performance tonight, but we should have closed out the match sooner."

Expectations around the club are high this season. They picked up their first domestic silverware in 16 years by winning the Italian Cup at the end of last season.

A successful close-season campaign, capped by victory against Serie A champions Juventus in the Italian Supercup final last month has only increased the pressure on Mancini.

"Let's look at the positive aspects of tonight's game," he said.

"The team regained its shape, it played calmly, we created a lot of chances and did not give them many in return."