Inter Milan was handed another humiliating loss Tuesday, with its 10-man side losing 3-1 to newly promoted Novara to pile the pressure on manager Gian Piero Gasperini.
Victory for Novara in its first home game in the top division after a 55-year absence left Inter winless in five matches in all competitions this season, and with just one point from three league games.
''This is a very big blow,'' Gasperini said, before refusing to step down. ''I believe strongly in my job. This is a very difficult test, which I've got to resolve.''
In a match marked by Inter's defensive lapses, Novara forward Riccardo Meggiorini scored on the break in the 38th minute. Inter's Andrea Ranocchia was then sent off for tugging down Japan forward Takayuki Morimoto inside the area and Marco Rigoni converted the resulting penalty in the 86th.
Esteban Cambiasso pulled one back for Inter in the 89th but Rigoni restored Novara's two-goal lead in added time.
The capacity crowd of 17,875 at the Silvio Piola stadium couldn't have possibly expected such a result.
''We're incredibly happy. We beat the world champions,'' Rigoni said, referring to Inter's Club World Cup victory last year.
Novara - which is located midway between Milan and Turin - won a playoff with Padova in June to gain promotion back into Serie A, having played in the third division just three years ago.
''It's a nice party, because it's our return to Serie A and our first match at home,'' said Novara coach Attilio Tesser.
By contrast, Inter president Massimo Moratti was also on hand and did not appear pleased in the least.
On his way out of the stadium, Moratti was asked if he thought Gasperini had the match under control.
''It didn't really seem that way to me,'' Moratti responded. ''But let's leave him alone for the night.''
Gasperini is already Inter's third coach since Jose Mourinho bolted to Real Madrid after leading Inter to a treble in 2010. Rafa Benitez struggled during the first half of last season and was replaced with Leonardo, who then unexpectedly left for an executive position with Paris Saint-Germain.
Inter opened Serie A with a 4-3 loss to Palermo, conceding four goals for the first time in a league match in more than seven years. It was then beaten 1-0 at home last week by Turkish side Trabzonspor in its opening Champions League game of the season.
Novara has four points, leaving it two points behind early Serie A leaders Napoli, Juventus, Udinese and Cagliari - which are each in action Wednesday.
Fresh from a 3-1 win over AC Milan, Napoli is at Chievo Verona, Juventus hosts Bologna, Udinese visits Milan and Cagliari plays Palermo in Sicily.
Also Wednesday, it's: Cesena vs. Lazio; Fiorentina vs. Parma; Genoa vs. Catania; and Lecce vs. Atalanta; while Roma hosts Siena in Thursday's lone match.
Matching the crowd's energy, Novara threatened from the start.
In the opening minute, a mistake by Inter defender Cristian Chivu set up Meggiorini directly in front of Inter's goal and goalkeeper Julio Cesar did well to clear the danger. However, the Brazil keeper was struck in the face with the ball and appeared to have trouble with his right eye thereafter.
Novara had another chance with a header from Massimo Paci in the third minute and Meggiorini missed with an acrobatic volley that flew wide in the 15th.
In the 16th, Julio Cesar was involved in another collision, although this time it was Novara playmaker Andrea Mazzarani who came up limping.
With Inter resorting to long-range shots from Diego Forlan and Wesley Sneijder, Novara took the lead as Meggiorini redirected a cross from Mazzarani.
Gasperini once again altered his attack dramatically in the second half - bringing on Gampaolo Pazzini, Joel Obi and Mauro Zarate for Diego Forlan, Luc Castaignos and Wesley Sneijder - but it made little difference.
With Inter midfielder Cambiasso struggling to keep up, Mazzarani had only Julio Cesar to beat in the 53rd but shot directly at the goalkeeper, while Novara substitute Luigi Giorgi had a shot tipped over the bar in the 72nd.
Cambiasso was left unmarked in the middle of the area for his goal, while Morimoto fought off Obi near the corner flag to provide the cross that led to Rigoni's second goal.
