Sassuolo coach Roberto De Zerbi was left angry after defeat to Inter Milan on Wednesday night.

Inter won 2-1 as Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez scored for the hosts before a late Junior Hamed Traore strike.

“When you play like this and leave empty-handed, it certainly hurts," De Zerbi told Sky Sport Italia after the 2-1 result.

“The overall performance is one thing, then the refereeing incidents are another. We could've done more in the first half, as we had double Inter's shots on goal.

“As for the referee, I think it was a penalty. I don't like Massimiliano Irrati and every time he officiates our games, he is not in good shape. I didn't like anything about his approach to this game, from start to finish."

Sassuolo had 70 per cent of possession for the game.

De Zerbi added: "Possession is meaningless if you don't have shots on goal, but we still had 15 attempts to Inter's six. All I can complain about is that my men didn't close down Ashley Young's cross, but Lukaku did very well in that situation.

"People keep going on about the importance of balance, but balance means dominating possession without conceding many counter-attacks, which is what we did today. Balance isn't just defending with 10 men behind the ball."