ınter make mancini's day against dnipro published: thursday 27 november 2014, 23.34cet fc ınternazionale milano 2-1 fc dnipro dnipropetrovsk pablo osvaldo's winner secured top spot in group f for the ten-man nerazzurri, as they marked their coach's 50th birthday.
• ruslan rotan gives dnipro the lead after 16 minutes • ınter's samir handanovič saves yevhen konoplyanka penalty • zdravko kuzmanović and pablo osvaldo respond either side of andrea ranocchia's dismissal • ınter will finish top of group f; dnipro bottom but still in with a chance • next games: qarabağ v ınter, dnipro v st-étienne (11 december)
ten-man fc ınternazionale milano gave coach roberto mancini something else to celebrate on his 50th birthday, coming from behind to beat fc dnipro dnipropetrovsk 2-1 and secure first place in uefa europa league group f.
ınter played with fire in the early stages and duly got burned, nikola kalinić playing in yevhen konoplyanka on the left, and while samir handanovič parried the no10's powerful shot, ruslan rotan was able to fire in the loose ball from close range.
konoplyanka's running was a menace, and he should have made it 2-0 after juan fouled yevhen cheberyachko in the box. handanovič, however, is not easy to beat from the spot, and having saved his last five serie a penalties, the slovenian international dived to his right to keep konoplyanka's effort out.
dnipro's punishment for that miss was swift, their failure to clear following a scramble in the box inviting zdravko kuzmanović to find the bottom corner of denys boyko's net with a crisp, right-footed finish.
a second booking for ınter captain andrea ranocchia might have altered the complexion of the game again, but ınter were to move ahead, hernanes cracking the dnipro defence open with a pass that enabled pablo osvaldo to beat the onrushing boyko with a low shot.
kalinić and rotan went close for the visitors later, and dnipro had a yevhen seleznyov strike ruled out for offside in the last minute, but they could yet join ınter in the round of 32. however, to do so they must beat draw specialists as saint-étienne on matchday six, and hope that qarabağ fk fail to overcome ınter on the same night.
