Icardi hits back at the haters
Mauro Icardi insisted he was never worried about his wait for a first Serie A goal of the season after leading Inter to a 2-1 win over Fiorentina on Wednesday (AEST).
Icardi scored his first league goal of the season with a first-half penalty at San Siro before setting up Danilo D'Ambrosio for the winner after a Milan Skriniar own goal had drawn the visitors level.
The 25-year-old has been prolific in recent campaigns – netting 53 goals across the past two league seasons – but had to wait for his fifth Serie A appearance of 2018-2019 to get off the mark.
Icardi insisted he was unfazed by his slow start to the season, saying his critics were too quick to judge him.
"There is plenty to work on, but we are taking it in our stride and we must keep improving week by week," he said.
"My lack of goals? There are some people that talk too much on social media. I am relaxed.
"I hadn't scored for four matches and they started to create a fuss. I am calm. I've scored 120 goals in my career and I'm not worried."
Inter's win was their third straight in all competitions, lifting Luciano Spalletti's team into fifth in Serie A – although they are still five points adrift of Juventus, who host Bologna on Wednesday.
Spalletti said he had seen plenty of development in his team, who host Cagliari in its next outing on Sunday.
"The team has improved in many aspects, especially in terms of mentality, conviction and character," he said.
"Everything has improved a bit, also thanks to the physical condition. We played well apart from a few mistakes when playing out from the back.
"Fiorentina caused some issues but we had lots of chances and did different things well. Perhaps we didn't convert some of them because we got the final ball wrong, but we claimed the points that we needed."
