Inter’s Mauro Icardi (right) loses his balance after a challenge with Simone Romagnoli, of Carpi.

Up to a few weeks ago, Inter were the undisputed leaders in the Serie A.

In terms of points, Roberto Man-cini’s side were ahead of Napoli, Juventus and the rest but their quality play was well below par.

The Nerazzurri never really convinced in their approach as they could only manage narrow wins, just enough to secure the points and stay on top.

Until mid-December Inter were giving an impression that they could really make a decent challenge for their first league title in six years. However, a sequence of poor results followed and they lost precious ground. Now, it is Napoli and Juventus who are leading the race for the scudetto.

Inter’s free-fall – only five points from their last five outings – may eventually prove too costly. Next Sunday they play the derby against city rivals Milan and that could be the last chance for them to start reversing their negative trend and revive the chances of making a top-three finish come May.

One needs to go back to December 20 to trace the start of Inter’s dark patch in the league.

On that day, they played Lazio but never really got going and lost the match 2-1.

After the Christmas recess, a slender 1-0 away win at Empoli somewhat masked another poor Inter display as the Tuscany outfit clearly deserved at least a draw from that game.

Then, without playing dazzling football, Inter could still have beaten Sassuolo on the final game of the first round.

However, Mancini’s team were left to rue several missed chances as Eusebio Di Francesco’s side punished them with a stoppage-time penalty goal by Domenico Berardi.

Another colourless display against Atalanta followed as Inter’s progress was hindered in no small way following a 1-1 draw with goalkeeper Samir Handanovic performing heroics for the visitors to avoid defeat.

The midweek 2-0 away win at Napoli in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals seemed the right antidote for Inter to rediscover their winning touch with modest Carpi up next in the league.

Inter had not won at the San Siro in the league since beating Genoa 1-0 on the 15th day.

However, the unexpected happened against Carpi as the 18-times champions could not go beyond a 1-1 draw.

In a dull game Inter were edging towards victory when substitute Kevin Lasagna scored his first ever goal in the Italian top flight to equalise for Carpi very late in the match.

It was only Carpi’s fourth positive result on the road (one win and three draws) this season.

Inter could have easily won all three points on Sunday had they taken a couple of favourable scoring opportunities that came their way before Lasagna silenced the San Siro crowd.

Coppa Italia route for silverware

Inter are currently joint third, level on points with Fiorentina and six points behind Gonzalo Higuain’s Napoli.

Tonight, they travel to Turin to take on holders Juventus in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, a competition which Inter have not won since 2011.

To reach the final in May, most likely against Milan (who will cross swords with Lega Pro outfit Alessandria in the other semi-final), Inter need to be on top of their game.

The indications are that the Coppa Italia could be Inter’s only avenue to silverware this season particularly if they fail to halt their slide in the league.

However, the Serie A should remain a priority for Mancini and his men for a myriad of reasons, top of which financially as the club cannot afford another year without European competitions.

To reach that objective, Inter need to start winning games fast, and, perhaps, doing it in more convincing fashion.