Inter were pegged back 1-1 in Saint-Etienne and remain top of the group despite conceding their first Europa League goal.
In the other fixture, Dnipro earned a 2-1 victory away to Qarabag.
Inter were pegged back 1-1 in Saint-Etienne and remain top of the group despite conceding their first Europa League goal.
In the other fixture, Dnipro earned a 2-1 victory away to Qarabag.
The Nerazzurri were top of their group, but were fresh from a 2-0 defeat to Parma in Serie A and missed Hernanes, Fredy Guarin, Yuto Nagatomo, Yann M’Vila, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Jonathan, Yann M’Vila, Yuto Nagatomo and Hugo Campagnaro. Walter Mazzarri gave 17-year-old Federico Bonazzoli his Europa League debut from the start.
Saint-Etienne had drawn all three games 0-0 in this group, while the Nerazzurri had not conceded all season in the Europa League.
Zdravko Kuzmanovic turned wide from a smart Bonazzoli assist, then Rodrigo Palacio went round the goalkeeper and Moustapha Bayall Sall cleared it off the line, but in doing so passed it to Stephane Ruffier. There was therefore an indirect free kick from 10 yards, which Dodo saw smash into the wall of players and also the upright.
Ruffier had his gloves stung by a Kuzmanovic screamer from distance, while Romain Hamouma tested Juan Pablo Carrizo.
Inter finally found a breakthrough when Ruffier brilliantly palmed a Palacio header on to the upright, but Dodo turned in the rebound from close range. That was the first goal Saint-Etienne had conceded in the group phase.
However, straight after the restart the French club also scored their first goal of the tournament. A corner was not cleared by Nemanja Vidic and Bayal Sall blasted in from close range. That ended Inter’s European clean sheet after 524 minutes of football, just short of the club record of 557 minutes set in the 1990-91 UEFA Cup.
The momentum was now very much with Saint-Etienne, who had barely made an impact in the first half, as Hamouma had a shot deflected out for a corner off Palacio and Carrizo smothered a Max Gradel strike.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel came off the bench and had a great opportunity to win it, but after skipping past defenders he was denied by a Carrizo outstretched leg.
Saint-Etienne 1-1 Inter
Scorers: Dodo 33 (I), Bayal Sall 50 (S)
Saint-Etienne: Ruffier; Perrin, Bayal Sall, Pogba; Theophile-Catherine, Lemoine, Clement, Tabanou; Hamouma (Van Wolfswinkel 68), Mevlut Erdinc (Diomande 56), Gradel
Inter: Carrizo; Andreolli, Vidic, Juan Jesus; Mbaye, Kuzmanovic (Palazzi 82), Medel, Kovacic (Osvaldo 74), Dodò; Bonazzoli (Obi 66), Palacio
Ref: Vincic (SVN)