Bitter Inter snubs media after Atalanta draw
Inter Milan's players and coaching staff refused to speak to the media in protest against late refereeing decisions after a 1-1 draw with Atalanta.
The Serie A leader went ahead after 13 minutes through Francesco Pio Esposito and Atalanta equalised in controversial circumstances in the 82nd minute.
Denzel Dumfries felt he was fouled by Kamaldeen Sulemana before the Atalanta winger's shot was parried for Nikola Krstovic to turn home.
Referee Gianluca Manganiello appeared to put his whistle to his mouth when the challenge was made, but never blew it and the goal stood when there was no intervention from the video assistant referee (VAR).
Inter boss Cristian Chivu was sent off and the hosts were enraged further when Mangianello decided not to award a penalty when Davide Frattesi went down under a challenge from Giorgio Scalvini.
The host broadcaster confirmed that no one from Inter would speak to the media after the result.
Atalanta boss Raffaele Palladino refused to be drawn on the controversial decisions, instead focusing on praising his side for its response after a 6-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
"I never talk about referees," Palladino said.
"This is a great squad. I've been asking so much of then for the last four months, and I want to publicly thank them for all their efforts.
"They battled with such courage. It's not easy to play every three days, but they put in a strong performance today.
"We improved over the course of the match – we had wanted to sit a little deeper and use the transitions in the first half, but didn't do it well enough."
Inter's lead at the Serie A summit will be reduced to five points if AC Milan beats Lazio on Monday (AEDT).
