Roberto Mancini felt Inter wasted chances in their 2-1 win over nine-man Lazio and “understands” Samir Handanovic’s desire to move on.

This was the second time in recent weeks his side had been leading against nine men and struggled to secure victory, as they also won 2-1 at Udinese.

“Unfortunately we wasted many scoring opportunities and if a team is down to nine men it will try to close up spaces,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

Roberto Mancini felt Inter wasted chances in their 2-1 win over nine-man Lazio and “understands” Samir Handanovic’s desire to move on.

This was the second time in recent weeks his side had been leading against nine men and struggled to secure victory, as they also won 2-1 at Udinese.

“Unfortunately we wasted many scoring opportunities and if a team is down to nine men it will try to close up spaces,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“The important thing was to win tonight. My players have the quality to move the ball around quickly and then time the runs well one-against-one. We did that better than against Udinese.

“It was a very entertaining game against a Lazio side who are having a great campaign. When Stefano Mauri came behind us to get the ball, we should’ve pressed them more.

“Clearly we need to improve, but we have made steps forward. In Italy teams can defend well even when down to nine men, so spaces are hard to find.”

Mauro Icardi had a penalty saved by Etrit Berisha after he got Federico Marchetti sent off.

“Mauro is improving, but he’s still young and will grow gradually. Tonight he could’ve scored three goals, but these things happen and he played very well for his team-mates.”

Handanovic’s contract is due to expire in June 2016 and negotiations for a renewal are stuttering.

“I consider him to be one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, he made some great saves tonight. I don’t know the precise situation, there are talks and hopefully they’ll find the middle ground over the next few weeks.

“I understand Samir too. I read he wants to play in the Champions League and we cannot guarantee that next season. We’ll see if we’re able to keep him or not. It’s not guaranteed that he’ll leave.”

The Nerazzurri climbed up to seventh place, although it would be eighth if Genoa beat Torino on Monday night.

That could be irrelevant anyway, as Genoa had their application for a UEFA licence rejected, so might not be allowed to enter the Europa League.

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