Stramaccioni: Cagliari draw leaves a bitter taste in the mouth for Inter

Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni has admitted that he was hoping for more after seeing his team held to a 2-2 draw against Cagliari, although he praised the strength of mind which twice took the visitors back from a goal down. Goals from Argentine duo Diego Milito and Esteban Cambiasso pegged back the hosts on two occasions to ensure a share of the points on Saturday afternoon; Davide Astori and Mauricio Pinilla scoring for Cagliari in an open match. The draw, however, coupled with Udinese's 3-1 defeat of Parma, saw the Nerazzurri slip six points behind their rivals in the chase for third place and Serie A's final Champions League qualification spot. Stramaccioni, who took over at San Siro following the removal of Claudio Ranieri, confessed that a draw was not the result he was hoping to take away from Nereo Rocco. 

"This draw leaves a bitter taste in the mouth," he told reporters in the post-match press conference, also lamenting a last-gasp miss by Andrea Ranocchia which could have secured three points. "It was an exciting game between two exciting teams, and Cagliari looked very good; especially in the first 15 minutes after half time. We had worked our way back into the game and tried to win until the end, and if Ranocchia's chance had gone in in the 93rd minute it could have been the winning goal." Inter currently lie seventh in Serie A, having picked up 45 points from their 31 games so far.

Source: goal.com