SASSUOLO, Italy (Reuters) -Newly-crowned champions Inter Milan suffered their second defeat in Serie A this season, as a first-half goal by Armand Lauriente gave relegation-threatened Sassuolo a crucial 1-0 victory at home on Saturday.
Sassuolo have a unique hold over Simone Inzaghi's side this season as the only team to beat Inter in the league, securing a 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture in September.
The result was a big boost in Sassuolo's relegation battle as they sit second from bottom on 29 points, with only three points between them and Cagliari in 14th place.
With the title already secured in late April, Inzaghi rested several players, including striker Marcus Thuram, midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu and goalkeeper Yann Sommer, opting to give playing time to the rest of the squad.
The hosts got the only goal of the match after 20 minutes when Josh Doig managed to wrestle the ball back from Denzel Dumfries near the corner flag and pulled it back to Lauriente, who slotted it into the net from close range.
While Inter created several chances, Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli thwarted the visitors on multiple occasions during the first half with good saves.
Lautaro Martinez thought he had equalised for Inter in first-half stoppage time, but after a lengthy VAR check, his goal was disallowed for offside.
In the second half, Inter pushed for an equaliser but could not break a determined Sassuolo defence. Both Marko Arnautovic and Martinez missed good opportunities for the visitors, resulting in the hosts claiming all three points.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Christian Radnedge)
