Serie A: Walter Mazzarri happy with Inter Milan performance against Sampdoria

Walter Mazzarri feels he has finally stamped his identity on his Inter Milan team as the Nerazzurri clinched an important victory over previously-unbeaten Sampdoria.

Mauro Icardi scored a penalty against his former club to seal the 1-0 win at San Siro that sees Inter close to within a point of the Champions League places.

And Mazzarri, a former Samp coach, was suitably satisfied with his side's performance.

He told Inter's website: "I think my team put in a great performance in terms of the football we played.

"We've beaten a side that had not lost once this season. The only negative is that we couldn't take more of our chances.

"At the end of the day, we've won. Hopefully we're saving up the goals for the next match.

"We're happy with how the lads are playing. This is a united group made up of good men. This team feels truly mine.

"I'm sure the players will continue to do me proud."

Samp boss Sinisa Mihajlovic admitted his players did not deserve to take anything from the game.

Alfred Duncan hit the crossbar and Manolo Gabbiadini spurned a couple of close-range chances, but Mihajlovic remained unmoved.

"Even though we lost the game at the last minute, I'm sorry but I have to be honest, we could have done more," the Serbian told sampdoria.it.

"We would not have deserved the draw. We lost the game ourselves. Inter played better and created more chances so... let's move on."