Soccer:Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho claimed his side could have beaten AC Milan with seven men after they had two men sent off in their 2-0 derby win last night.
The Nerazzurri ended the game with nine men, but still beat their nearest rivals for the Scudetto to open up a nine-point gap at the top of the table, despite what Mourinho claims is a clear attempt to prevent them from winning the title again this season.
Wesley Sneijder's 25th-minute red card was particularly hard for Mourinho to digest and he hinted at there being an agenda against his side.
"It was a strange game," he said. "I think we all understand that it was no coincidence that he showed the red card to Sneijder.
"I have realised that they are not going to allow us to wrap this title up.
"But we were perfect. We would have won this game even with seven men. Maybe with six we would have struggled, but we would have won with seven."
Referee Gianluca Rocchi also sent Lucio off in second half stoppage time, giving a dubious penalty to Milan for an unavoidable handball inside the penalty area.
Julio Cesar saved Ronaldinho's spot-kick, but Mourinho could not help thinking somebody was trying to sabotage his side's chances of winning another league title, calling into question the integrity of Italian football.
"Everything was done today to try and prevent Inter from winning, but my squad is strong and we will win the Scudetto," he told Sky television. "But I will leave it at that. This is your country and your league. I am just a foreigner working here.
"One day, I will go and leave this problem with you."
Meanwhile, Milan coach Leonardo admitted his side had been beaten by the better team, but said they would learn from the defeat.
"We already knew that Inter are strong and one game alone cannot determine where we are," he said. "We will look back at all the positive things we have done recently and look forward to what we can potentially do.
"All this game does is teach us a few lessons.
"It will not knock us off track and we will carry on taking each game as it comes."