Soccer-Inter Milan edge past Sampdoria as Icardi watches from stand

Inter Milan ended a turbulent week by beating Sampdoria 2-1 in Serie A on Sunday under the gaze of injured top scorer Mauro Icardi. The Argentine striker was stripped of the captaincy on Wednesday amid protracted negotiations over a new contract and he refused to travel for their Europa League fixture against Rapid Vienna the following day.

The club subsequently announced Icardi would miss the visit of Sampdoria through injury and the 25-year-old watched from the stands at San Siro as new captain Samir Handanovic led out the team. Danilo D’Ambrosio and Radja Nainggolan struck for the Nerazzurri either side of Samp substitute Manolo Gabbiadini’s goal in the space of five second-half minutes.

The victory relieved the pressure on coach Luciano Spalletti as Inter restored a four-point cushion over rivals AC Milan in third place with their second consecutive league win. (Writing by Alasdair Mackenzie; editing by Clare Fallon)