Roberto Mancini has demanded 'more' from his Inter Milan players after their 1-0 win over Bologna on Tuesday.
Mauro Icardi scored the Nerazzurri's decisive goal in their trip to the Stadio Dall'Ara, but only after Inter were reduced to 10 men after midfielder Felipe Melo was sent off for a second bookable offense.
"I want much more, especially in the first half," Mancini said after the match.
"The second period was totally different. We were too slow and didn't create any spaces. Maybe we play better with 10 men?"
Inter's slow start to the game followed a pattern that they have set throughout this Serie A season, with the half-time score in seven out of 10 games this campaign being 0-0 -- something that has frustrated Mancini.
"The first half we were far too slow and Bologna sat behind the ball, so there was no space down the flanks and the strikers were too far away. The second half was much better," he said.
"I thought the only problems of the first half were we were too slow passing it and the wide men didn't move enough. They attacked the space and looked for the ball more as time went on, we also made fewer technical errors."
The Inter coach wasn't impressed, either, by Melo's red card and was sent from the touchline by referee Luca Banti for repeatedly arguing with the official.
"I told him it was a tactical foul and should've received a yellow card," Mancini said.
"Unfortunately I didn't convince him, but then that's normal. I don't think even he knows why he sent me off. Nothing happened. Football is football. You can't end every game with 10 men."
Following the win, Inter Milan sit at the top of the Serie A table. Fellow title contenders Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina and Napoli all play on Wednesday evening.