Genoa chief hits out at Inter gamesmanship

Genoa president Enrico Preziosi hit out at Inter Milan for gamesmanship following their 1-0 home defeat to the champions at the Marrassi stadium.

Portuguese goalkeeper Eduardo gifted Inter victory with a horror gaffe as he let Muntari Sulley’s shot bounce over his shoulder and past him into the goal in first half stoppage time on Friday night.

But Preziosi feels Inter reverted to dirty tactics as the clock wound down to hold onto their slim advantage.

“I’m disgusted, the spectacle of the last 15 minutes was far-fetched,” he said.

“Seeing a team like Inter that aims to win the title behaving like a provincial side was disgusting.

“They shouldn’t revert to certain tactics.

“I’m very bitter and also a bit angry, this type of behaviour is revolting, football is something else.

“Even a champion like (Samuel) Eto’o started play-acting without even being touched. It’s anti-sporting.”

Preziosi felt Eto’o won a free-kick on the edge of the Genoa box after falling on his own, while late on, Lucio stayed on the ground with Genoa in a promising position, forcing the referee to stop the game and blunt the hosts’ attacking momentum, only to be up and running moments later.

However, Inter coach Rafael Benitez refuted such accusations, which highlighted an issue that has dominated sports pages in recent days after Juventus’s Milos Krasic was hit with a two-game ban for a blatant dive to win a penalty against Bologna.

“I don’t agree (with Preziosi), we played a normal game and managed the time as everyone does,” said Benitez.

“We worked very hard and even those up front sacrificed themselves to help their team-mates.

“We played with character … the goal was bad luck on the goalkeeper’s side and they played well but I was happy with my team.”