Roberto Mancini celebrated the first win of his second spell as coach of Inter as the Nerazzurri climbed to 11th in Serie A by beating Chievo 2-0 last night.
Mateo Kovacic and Andrea Ranocchia scored to take Inter to within four points of the top six, three of whom they meet in their next three matches.
Chievo failed to build on their win over Cagliari and lost for the first time in six games to remain just a point above the relegation zone. The red card for Ruben Botta rubbed salt into their wounds.
It was immediately clear that Inter and Kovacic, in particular, were keen to get their season back on track as the Croatian had an early shot blocked.
Kovacic opened the scoring in the 19th minute with his second chance of the game, reacting very quickly to race in from the edge of the area, pounce on a loose ball and slot in from six yards.
Chievo did not go down without a fight, though, and a spectacular overhead kick from Riccardo Meggiorini gave Samir Handanovic some work to do 10 minutes before the interval.
Gennaro Sardo’s cross then hit the far post, with Handanovic beaten.
Inter pushed for more goals in the second half, with Yuto Nagatomo flashing a shot wide within 40 seconds of the restart.
Danilo D’Ambrosio saw his shot deflected past a post by Meggiorini, but from the resulting corner Ranocchia doubled Inter’s lead, beating team-mate Fredy Guarin to the ball to volley in from seven yards out.
Chievo’s hopes of salvaging a point looked over and Botta let the frustration get the better of him as he picked up a straight red card for dissent in the 73rd minute.
Earlier, Empoli and Torino had to settle for a point apiece as the two Serie A strugglers played out a goalless draw.
Torino continued to look a shadow of the side who qualified for the Europa League last season as they were held to their fifth draw of the season.
Empoli had the better chances, but, despite ending the game with an extra man after Pontus Jansson was sent off, they could not find a way past their opponents.
Summaries
Empoli 0
Torino 0
Att: 7,796.
Red card: Jansson (T) 90.
Chievo 0
Inter 2
Kovacic 19, Ranocchia 55;
HT: 0-1. Att: 10,000.
Red card: Botta (C) 73.
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 6 | 36 |
| Roma | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 28 | 11 | 35 |
| Lazio | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 26 | 17 | 26 |
| Sampdoria | 15 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 20 | 12 | 26 |
| Genoa | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 26 |
| Milan | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 25 | 18 | 24 |
| Napoli | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 26 | 20 | 24 |
| Fiorentina | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 12 | 23 |
| Udinese | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 20 | 21 |
| Palermo | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 21 |
| Inter | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 21 | 20 |
| Sassuolo | 15 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 19 |
| Verona | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 26 | 17 |
| Empoli | 15 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 16 |
| Torino | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 14 |
| Atalanta | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 14 |
| Chievo | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 13 |
| Cagliari | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 20 | 26 | 12 |
| Cesena | 15 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 29 | 8 |
| Parma (-1) | 15 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 16 | 34 | 6 |
Next fixtures
Thursday: 19.00 Cagliari vs Juventus. 21.00 Napoli vs Parma.
Saturday: 18.00 Sassuolo vs Cesena. 20.45 Roma vs Milan.
Sunday: 12.30 Verona vs Chievo. 15.00 Atalanta vs Palermo; Fiorentina vs Empoli; Samp vs Udinese; Torino vs Genoa. 20.45 Inter vs Lazio.