Inter Beat Fiorentina 2-1 With Two Stoppage Time Goals to Return to Top of Serie A

Inter Milan scored twice in stoppage time to beat Fiorentina 2-1 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan on Sunday and go back to the top of Serie A. Fiorentina led from the 65th minute and were still ahead when the fourth official raised the board, but Marcus Thuram equalised in the first minute of added time and Piotr Zielinski won the match with a penalty in the eighth.

Fiorentina strike first

Alex Jimenez put the visitors in front midway through the second half, finishing an angled strike from distance off a pass from Nicolo Fagioli that beat Inter goalkeeper Ivan Provedel. Provedel was making his debut for the club and had been protected for most of the afternoon, because Inter controlled the game without finding a way through.

David de Gea was the busier goalkeeper by a distance. The Fiorentina keeper made a fingertip stop on a Pio Esposito header and parried an angled drive from Thuram in the first half, then denied substitute Petar Sucic after the break. Carlos Augusto sent a glancing header off the top of the bar as Inter kept pressing, and for a long stretch it looked as though Jimenez had scored the only goal of the match.

Two goals in added time

The equaliser finally came in the 90+1 minute. Thuram, who had threatened all afternoon, guided a shot into the bottom corner from an Andy Diouf assist to make it 1-1 and set up a frantic finish.

Inter kept coming, and the winner arrived in the 90+8 minute. Thuram was held in the area by Victor Valdepenas, referee Maurizio Mariani pointed to the spot, and Zielinski converted the penalty to complete the turnaround. Zielinski had only entered the match in the 78th minute, replacing Hakan Calhanoglu in a triple change that also brought on Federico Dimarco and Sucic.

Top of the table

Inter finished with 63 percent possession and 33 shots in a match they dominated on every count except, for 91 minutes, the scoreboard. The win returns them to the top of Serie A on 22 points from eight matches, level with Lazio, with seven wins and one draw, 23 goals scored and 10 conceded.

Fiorentina stay 18th, and their winless run stretches to four games. A side that defended its lead for more than 25 minutes and got a standout performance from its goalkeeper leaves Milan with nothing, beaten by two goals scored after the regulation 90 minutes had already ended.