Fiorentina came back from 2-0 down and again to equalise in the final minute with Luka Jovic’s acrobatic volley, but a bizarre Henrikh Mkhitaryan goal deep into stoppages sealed Inter’s 4-3 victory amid refereeing controversy.
The Nerazzurri had Joaquin Correa back in the starting XI, with Romelu Lukaku, Marcelo Brozovic, Samir Handanovic and Roberto Gagliardini still injured, while the hosts had Gaetano Castrovilli and Riccardo Sottil out, Luka Jovic struggling with a hip issue. The Viola won only one of their last nine Serie A games and their last competitive victory over Inter was a 5-4 thriller in April 2017.
It took barely 90 seconds to break the deadlock, as Lautaro Martinez won a challenge with Nikola Milenkovic and prodded through for Nicolò Barella, who took a couple of touches before scooping the finish past Pietro Terracciano while stumbling. The midfielder had his third goal in as many competitive games.
There was more bad news for the hosts, as Nico Gonzalez limped off with a muscular problem, while Jonathan Ikone’s curler skimmed the far top corner and Ikone’s unorthodox volley was wide on Christian Kouame’s cross.
Inter were far more clinical and doubled their lead as Lautaro Martinez beat Lucas Martinez Quarta to drill into the near bottom corner.
However, Fiorentina were given a lifeline when Federico Dimarco clattered into Giacomo Bonaventura during a volley wide. The ball was still in play, so VAR intervened and the referee awarded a penalty, converted by Arthur Cabral. However, Dimarco was very fortunate not to also receive a red card – or indeed any card – considering the tackle was so high it got Bonaventura on the outside of the knee.
Terracciano fingertipped a Lautaro Martinez header over from a corner straight after the restart, while Kouame pulled a low ball across the face of goal and nobody was able to get the tap-in.
Fiorentina completed the comeback for 2-2 when Kouame’s cross-field pass found Ikone down the right, he took on Francesco Acerbi who was already on a yellow card and had to back off, placing a simply unstoppable left-foot curler into the far top corner off the underside of the bar.
Barella was denied by Terracciano when clear on the counter-attack, but there was further controversy when Lautaro Martinez was brought down on an Edin Dzeko through ball and the referee pointed to the spot. It was originally flagged offside, so after a long VAR check, it was confirmed he was level and Terracciano’s fingertip to the ball was not enough to forgive crashing into Lautaro, as the ball was still within his reach. The Argentine converted the penalty with power to restore Inter’s lead.
Kouame drilled just wide from the edge of the box and Cabral’s volley was charged down in a crowd, as Inter were increasingly pinned back.
They paid for it, as in the final minute a corner was knocked on by Nikola Milenkovic and substitute Luka Jovic let it drop over his shoulder to strike on the volley from a tight angle and equalise.
It still wasn’t over, as Barella sprung the offside trap on a Dzeko through ball and rolled across from the right, Lorenzo Venuti tried to kick it clear, but ended up just getting the ricochet into the net off Mkhitaryan’s shin. Fiorentina were furious, as they felt there was a Dzeko foul on Milenkovic in the build-up.
Fiorentina 3-4 Inter
Barella 2 (I), Lautaro Martinez 15, pen 73 (I), Arthur Cabral pen 33 (F), Ikone 60 (F), Jovic 89 (F), Mkhitaryan 96 (I)