Antonio Conte called on Arturo Vidal to improve after conceding a penalty that gave Inter brief concern in their 6-2 win over Crotone.
The Nerazzurri were ultimately comfortable victors at San Siro on Sunday as Lautaro Martinez scored their first perfect hat-trick since Mauro Icardi's against Atalanta in March 2017.
However, Inter had been level at 2-2 at half-time following Vidal's needless error.
After Martinez's first effort and a Luca Marrone own goal turned the match around following Niccolo Zanellato's Crotone opener, Vidal charged towards Arkadiusz Reca and stepped on his foot in the area to concede a penalty, which Vladimir Golemic converted.
Inter coach Conte was worried at that stage the setback might affect his side, looking to win an eighth successive league match for the first time since 2008.
But Vidal was replaced at the interval and an assured second-half display saw Martinez score twice more either side of an excellent Romelu Lukaku effort, before Achraf Hakimi completed the scoring.
Conte told Sky Sport Italia: "We did well to turn it around, then the naivety on the penalty could have created anxiety and nervousness.
"But we did well to get back on track and bring home another win.
"We had good answers today, also because we had started in the right way. Then there was this corner where they surprised us [for Zanellato's goal]."
The penalty was the only foul Vidal committed before his premature withdrawal, but he won just two of his five duels and Conte was not impressed.
"Arturo has important margins for improvement," Conte said. "He definitely needs to work. Keep your head down and keep working.
"Nobody is guaranteed a place here and he has to prove he deserves to play. He must do much better than what he is doing.
"From what we've seen so far, there are too many ups and downs, and we can't afford them. He knows this, he knows he has to train harder.
"Maybe when you play in big teams, sometimes this aspect takes a back seat. Here instead you have to raise the level, he knows that. We'll give him time."
Far more impressive was Lukaku, who created the first Inter goal for Martinez, had a hand in the next two and then scored the fourth before he hobbled off with an injury.
Having seen his outstanding number nine net his 35th goal in his 50th Serie A game, Conte will hope he does not have to face a spell without the striker.
Inter are in action again as soon as Wednesday, facing Sampdoria, and the coach was waiting to hear more on Lukaku's problem.
"He told me he had a small quadriceps strain," Conte said. "We'll see tomorrow if he's at risk for the Sampdoria game.
"We took him off straight away. I don't think it's anything serious."
Swiatek seals Italian Open hat-trick after soaring past Sabalenka
Iga Swiatek stormed to her third Italian Open title following a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory over Aryna Sabalenka.
The world number one took just under an hour-and-a-half to deny the world number two, and complete a hat-trick of triumphs in Rome.
The pair were contesting a second final in as many events, with Swiatek saving three championship points before eventually prevailing in the Madrid Open showpiece a fortnight ago.
However, it was one-way traffic this time around. The Pole converted two out of three break points as she controlled the opening set.
Sabalenka was the last player to deny Swiatek in a WTA final, that coming at last year's Madrid Open.
Although, the second seed was helpless as her opponent broke again in game seven of the second set, before wrapping up a fourth title of the season ahead of the French Open later this month.
Data debrief
Landing her third Italian Open title before turning 23, Swiatek is only the second player to achieve that feat after Gabriela Sabatini.
In fact, at 22 years and 352 days old, she is the youngest player to win 10 WTA 1000 titles since the introduction of the format in 2009.
The Pole also became the third player to triumph in Madrid and Rome during the same season, after Dinara Safina (2009) and Serena Williams (2013).
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Darmstadt: Reus stars in farewell game
Marco Reus scored and assisted in his final Bundesliga game for Borussia Dortmund as they thrashed already-relegated Darmstadt 4-0.
The German teed up Ian Maatsen for the opener on the half-hour mark before scoring a stunning free-kick eight minutes later to put Dortmund in control.
Donyell Malen scored his 13th goal of the season to round things off after substitute Julian Brandt had latched onto Jadon Sancho's ball for a third.
Dortmund could have had more as Reus, Malen and Marcel Sabitzer struck the woodwork in either half, but it did not matter as Darmstadt struggled to show a threat.
Edin Terzic's side finished fifth in the final Champions League spot, while Darmstadt are relegated as the bottom club.
Data Debrief:
Reus has been directly involved in 251 goals in the Bundesliga (156G 95A in 391 games), making him just the third player to reach 250 goals and assists since his Bundesliga debut in August 2009, behind Thomas Müller 318 and Robert Lewandowski 367.
The German bids farewell to Signal Iduna Park having scored nine goals and assisting seven in all competitions this season, though he will be hoping to add to that tally in his final match for Dortmund - the Champions League final against Real Madrid on June 1.
Chelsea edge out Man City to claim fifth straight WSL title with thumping win at Old Trafford
Mayra Ramirez turned in a stellar performance to propel Chelsea to the WSL title in Emma Hayes' final match in charge as the Blues thrashed Manchester United 6-0.
Earlier in May, Hayes – who is ending a 12-year stint in charge of the Blues to become the United States coach – had all but given up on claiming a fifth straight WSL crown.
Yet Chelsea's 8-0 victory over Bristol City two weeks ago, combined with Manchester City's defeat to Arsenal, opened the door, and after beating Tottenham in midweek, the Blues knew a win, while maintaining their positive goal difference, would be enough.
And they made sure there was no room for error with an incredible first-half display inspired by Ramirez, who scored twice and set up goals for Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Sjoeke Nusken at Old Trafford.
Melanie Leupolz got in on the act early in the second half as Chelsea's celebrations began in earnest, with Fran Kirby netting late on to complete the rout on her farewell appearance.
Ultimately, City – likely deflated by the news coming from Old Trafford – held up their end of the bargain, but shorn of top goalscorer Khadija Shaw, Gareth Taylor's team could only beat Aston Villa 2-1.
City were constantly chasing their title rivals, with Ramirez and Rytting Kaneryd putting Chelsea 2-0 up at United inside eight minutes.
Mary Fowler nudged City ahead at Villa Park, though when Taylor's team went in at the interval, they will have seen additional goals from record signing Ramirez and Nusken had all but sewn up the title for Chelsea already.
Leupolz has scored her first WSL goal in over two years to add further gloss for Chelsea when they came back out from the restart in Manchester, and City were then hit by a further blow when Rachel Daly equalised for Villa.
Lauren Hemp, who had assisted Fowler's opener, restored City's lead, though it was never going to be enough, with Kirby's farewell goal ensuring Chelsea finished with a goal difference of 53 compared to their rivals' 46.
Chelsea are now unbeaten across their last nine WSL games that have come on the final day of the season, while the Blues are now nine WSL matches without loss against United, having won eight of those fixtures.
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