Inter got their revenge on Fiorentina with a 2-1 victory in San Siro, just a few days after they were beaten 3-0 by La Viola in Tuscany, as a Marin Pongracic own goal and a strike off the bench from Marko Arnautovic helped Simone Inzaghi’s side on their way to an important Serie A victory.
There was no Federico Dimarco in the Nerazzurri line-up as he missed out through injury, while Denzel Dumfries served his one-match suspension having picked up five yellow cards for the season. There was also a return at centre-back for Francesco Acerbi.
Fiorentina made just one change to their starting line-up, and there were debuts off the bench for Nicolo Zaniolo and Nicolo Fagioli.
You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
Inter dominated in the early stages, finishing the first 25 minutes with 80% of the possession, but they had not found the breakthrough by that point. The Nerazzurri had twice struck the woodwork from corners, though: Carlos Augusto and Lautaro Martinez with those efforts.
The opener came in controversial circumstances. Fiorentina were furious that Inter were awarded a corner, as they felt the whole ball had crossed the line before Alessandro Bastoni tried to hook a cross back into the middle of the area.
Still, a corner was awarded, which was converted in the middle. Originally given as a Lautaro Martinez opener, it was later amended and has officially gone down as a Pongracic own goal.
The controversial nature of the first goal led to both coaches – Simone Inzaghi and Rafaelle Palladino – being booked on the touchline.
Just before the goal went in, Inter lost Marcus Thuram, who needed to come off. Marko Arnautovic came on in his place.
While they weren’t able to get forward too often in the first half, Fiorentina got themselves back into it following a corner of their own.
A VAR check confirmed that Matteo Darmian made contact with his arm, and a spot kick was awarded. Rolando Mandragora stepped up instead of Moise Kean, and sent Yann Sommer the wrong way with a strike into the top corner.
Inter needed just seven minutes of the second half to put themselves back in front. Substitute Arnautovic rose highest in the middle of the area to plant a header into the ground and up past De Gea for 2-1.
There were Fiorentina debuts for Michael Folorunsho, Nicolo Zaniolo and Nicolo Fagioli in the second half, but none of them were able to find the equaliser.
Inter 2-1 Fiorentina
Pongracic (og) 28’ (I), Mandragora (pen) 44’ (F), Arnautovic 52’ (I).
Player statistic
| Marin Pongracic |  |
28' | ||
| Henrikh Mkhitaryan |  |
36' | ||
| 39' | |
Amir Richardson | ||
| 44' |  |
Rolando Mandragora | ||
| Hakan Calhanoglu | |
45+2' | ||
| 45+2' | |
Fabiano Parisi |
| Marko Arnautovic (Assist: Carlos Augusto) |
 |
52' | ||
| 66' | |
Moise Kean | ||
| Nicola Zalewski | |
70' | ||
| Nicolò Barella | |
79' |
Match statistic
1st goal – ball was out of play. 2nd goal – Arnautovic is pulling on the defender’s shirt. Complete travesty.
The ball reminded me of Bayern’s 10 meters offside goal against Fiorentina in UCL. This is not controversial but crystal clear.
Inter receives at least 6 more points than any other team from referees’ so called human error every season.
Rosario – what about Kean fouling Darmian before the penalty? lol laughable