Quagliarella goal sends Inter Milan to fourth Serie A loss in five

The pressure ramped up another notch on Inter Milan manager Frank de Boer after Sampdoria inflicted a fourth defeat in five Serie A games.

A midweek victory over Torino had lifted the gloom a little but Fabio Quagliarella's 44th-minute goal saw Inter fall to a 1-0 loss.

The result allowed Sampdoria to draw level on 14 points with their opponents, eight points adrift of the top three.

Sampdoria enjoyed the better of the early chances and came agonisingly close to taking the lead on the half-hour mark when Edgar Barreto hit a post with a shot from the right side of the box.

Inter responded and Antonio Candreva forced a save from Christian Puggioni with an effort from outside the box.

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It was then the visitors' turn to strike the woodwork, with Marcelo Brozovic hitting the bar, and the pressure on Sampdoria continued as Mauro Icardi and Brozovic again both went close when they probably should have done better.

But it was Sampdoria who made the breakthrough a minute before half-time as Quagliarella found the bottom corner.

The second half was shorter on chances but Icardi should have equalised in the 67th minute when he found himself free five yards out but he headed Brozovic's cross over the bar.

Ante Budimir could have made the points safe but hit his shot too close to Samir Handanovic, and Inter almost made them pay when Rodrigo Palacio hit the bar in injury time, with the ball narrowly failing to cross the line.