Inter turned a difficult Sunday at the Giuseppe Meazza into a 2-1 Serie A win over Fiorentina, recovering from Álex Jiménez’s 65th-minute opener through Marcus Thuram’s equaliser and Piotr Zielinski’s stoppage-time penalty.
Key takeaways
- Fiorentina led for 26 minutes after Jiménez struck from outside the box, with Nicolò Fagioli providing the assist.
- Thuram made it 1-1 in the first minute of added time after Andy Diouf found him in the area.
- Zielinski converted from the spot in the 97th minute after Valde fouled Thuram in the box.
- Inter hit the crossbar through Carlos Augusto and repeatedly tested David de Gea during a sustained second-half push.
- Fiorentina lost Marin Pongracic to injury early in the second half, while Jiménez also required treatment before later being substituted.
Inter’s late pressure changes the afternoon
The first half was goalless, but it was not without Inter territory and Inter chances. Nicolò Barella forced a low save from David de Gea in the 15th minute, while Carlos Augusto headed narrowly over from a Hakan Çalhanoğlu corner. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Francesco Pio Esposito also missed the target, and De Gea dealt with efforts from Thuram and Esposito as Fiorentina held their line.
Fiorentina had their own moments through Franco Mastantuono, Cher Ndour and Valde, but Inter resumed with the greater volume of attacking play. Thuram was denied or missed on several occasions, Carlos Augusto and Diouf fired off target, and Matteo Pellegrino saw a Fiorentina attempt blocked at the other end.
The visitors’ afternoon was disrupted when defender Marin Pongracic was forced off with an injury in the 51st minute, Viery taking his place. Jiménez later needed treatment after scoring, while Fiorentina subsequently introduced Dodô, Wilfried Gnonto, Beto and João Mário.
Inter brought Ange-Yoan Bonny on for Esposito in the 64th minute, then added Federico Dimarco, Zielinski and Petar Sucic during the final quarter. Matteo Lavelli replaced Barella five minutes from time. Those changes accompanied an increasingly insistent finish from the home side.
Fiorentina had taken the lead against the run of Inter’s accumulating chances. In the 65th minute, Fagioli set up Jiménez, who drove a right-footed effort from outside the area into the top-right corner.
Inter responded with a sequence of opportunities. Bonny was saved from close range, Barella and Çalhanoğlu missed, and Thuram headed straight at De Gea. Carlos Augusto then struck the bar from a set-piece delivery by Çalhanoğlu, underlining the pressure building around Fiorentina’s penalty area.
Thuram and Zielinski deliver the decisive minutes
Inter were still behind as normal time ended, but the added period became decisive. Diouf supplied Thuram in the centre of the area in the 91st minute, and the forward finished with his left foot into the right side of the net to restore parity.
The equaliser did not settle the contest. Dimarco was stopped from close range, Lavelli had efforts blocked, and Thuram saw another chance repelled as Inter continued to force play forward. From the resulting late pressure, Thuram was brought down in the box by Valde in the 95th minute.
Valde was booked for the challenge and Zielinski took responsibility from the spot. The midfielder sent a right-footed penalty into the upper-left corner in the seventh minute of stoppage time, completing Inter’s turnaround.
Fiorentina finished with further disciplinary trouble, with Viery and Dodô also shown yellow cards, while the final whistle arrived after 11 minutes of added time. For Inter, the result was shaped less by an early breakthrough than by persistence: a match that appeared to be slipping away was reclaimed in the final moments.
