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MILAN, May 11 (Reuters) - Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi has apologised for taking and missing a penalty in Sunday's 2-2 draw at home to Siena.
The Serie A leaders would have won the title with a victory but are now just one point ahead of second-placed AS Roma with one round of matches left next weekend. Inter visit relegation-threatened Parma and Roma go to struggling Catania.
With regular penalty taker Zlatan Ibrahimovic out with a knee injury, Materazzi argued with team mate and main striker Julio Cruz over who should take the 78th-minute spotkick, which was easily saved by Siena keeper Alex Manninger.
"I'm sorry, I should have let Julio take it and I've apologised to him. Now we need to pick ourselves up and think about Parma, it will be like a final," the Italy centre back told Sky.
Inter coach Roberto Mancini, whose side had an 11-point lead in February, was not amused.
"Marco should not have taken the penalty. But maybe Cruz would have missed it too," said the 43-year-old, whose position is under threat according to some media reports which say former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho is wating in the wings.
Inter fans packed the San Siro hoping for a title party but around 200 of them stayed on to protest as the team coach left after the match.
"Get back to work," media reports quoted them as chanting.
