Marcus Thuram delivered a man-of-the-match performance to secure another victory for Inter Milan over Fiorentina, in a match the woodwork twice denied them.
Inter dominated proceedings at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium as expected, with the expectation of defeating Viola, but fell behind to a screamer from Alex Jimenez, who scored against the run of play.
Poster boy of the match, Piotr Zielinski stepped up and put the ball beyond David De Gea’s reach, completing another comeback win after Marcus Thuram brought them level.
Inter have come back from behind five times this season to win Serie A games, and their never-say-die spirit is enormous as they fought to the end to secure a maximum point in 6 minutes.
Inter created just three chances in the final ten minutes of the first half.
De Gea kept out Thuram’s close-range effort from a tight angle. He then dived to his right to push away Francesco Pio Esposito’s header, and later denied Thuram again when he attempted to find the far corner with a powerful shot.
The referee didn’t award the host a penalty after a clumsy Viery tackle on Thuram inside the box, and Augusto hit the upper part of the crossbar twice within two minutes.
Fiorentina got a chance to double their lead, but Provedel saved Gnonto’s curler into the top corner.
The Nerazzurri’s effort was eventually rewarded, as the Frenchman linked up with Andy Diouf at the edge of the box, then finished clinically as the ball slowly crossed the line.
Inter then won the tie with a late penalty kick Thuram earned. Victor Valdepenas pulled the France international’s shirt and brought him down, and the referee didn’t hesitate to point to the spot, which Zielinski converted.
The victory returned the Serie A champions to the top of the log on 22 points alongside SS Lazio, which won their tie with the same scoreline on Saturday against Parma.
Fiorentina remain in the drop zone with just four points.
Roma and Como complete the top four with 18 and 17 points.
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