Fiorentina-Inter 1-1
GOALS: 1’st Esposito, 31’st Ndour
FIORENTINA (4-1-4-1): De Gea 6.5; Dodo 6, Pongracic 5.5, Ranieri 5, Gosens 6; Beans 6.5 (46’st Comuzzo sv); Parisi 6 (23’st Harrison 6), Ndour 6.5, Brescianini 6.5, Gudmundsson 5.5 (46’st Fabbian); Kean 5.5 (40’st Piccoli sv) On the bench: Lezzerini, Christensen, Kouadio, Rugani, Balbo, Fazzini, Piccoli Coach: Vanoli 6.5.
INTER (3-5-2): Sommer 5.5; Bisseck 6, Akanji 6.5, Carlos Augusto 6 (1’st Acerbi 6); Dumfries 6 (40’st Luis Henrique sv.), Barella 6.5 (37’st Susi sv), Calhanoglu 6.5 (23’st Frattesi 6), Zielinski 6, Dimarco 6; Thuram 5.5 (23’st Bonny 5.5), P.Esposito 7 On the bench: Martinez, Di Gennaro, Darmian, Maye, De Vrij, Diouf, Spinaccè. Coach: Kolarov 5.5
REFEREE: Colombo of Como 5.5
NOTES: cold evening, terrain in excellent condition. Coupons issued: 22,335. Proceeds: 807,098 euros. Booked: Brescianini, Ndour, Kean, Dimarco, Carlos Augusto, Barella. Corners: 5-3 for Inter. Recovery 1′ st, 4′ st.
The league leaders immediately broke the deadlock, Fiorentina didn’t give up, got back up and equalised. Franchi’s match ends 1-1, opened by Francesco Pio Esposito and closed by Ndour in a draw that makes Milan happy who, with eight days to go, are back at -6 behind Inter and will be able to return to cultivating their Scudetto dreams for at least two weeks. And Napoli is -7. It is a point gained in the race for survival for De Gea and his teammates, while it is yet another missed opportunity for Inter who, for the third match in a row, fail to win. There wasn’t even time to record the ways of playing of the two teams before the guests took the lead. 41″ was enough for Pio Esposito to head a cross from the right from Barella and surprise the entire home defense. Fiorentina spent the first 15 minutes almost in shock, being dominated in midfield by the Nerazzurri who found Calhanoglu’s elegant feet and wisdom again. It is no coincidence that Inter first saw Barella’s second goal canceled due to offside and that Pio Esposito again came close to scoring his personal double 19′ at the suggestion of Dumfries. Slowly the Gigliati come out of their shell, also because Fagioli’s quality increases, but the Tuscans pay for Kean’s wet evening who, in particular in the 29th minute, fails to tap-in half a meter from goal to win on a cross from Brescianini served by Parisi.
Kean had already made a mistake in front of goal after an assist from Gosens in the 6th minute, while Gudmundsson’s header was also just out in the 21st minute. The second half is a battle of nerves, with very fragmented play and few scoring opportunities at least in the first part, with Acerbi taking over Carlos Augusto after the break, but with Kolorov (on the bench in place of Chivu) who thinks a lot before changing anything. He does it in the 68th minute when he brings on Frattesi and Bonny for Calhanoglu and Thuram, the latter in yet another colorless performance of his season. A shot from Ndour in the 71st minute tested Sommer’s reflexes. It was Ndour who made up for it 5′ later when he collected a short clearance from Sommer following Gudmundsson’s initial shot, scoring the 1-1 goal. In the final the chances to find success are more for Fiorentina than for Inter, with Gudmundsson first and Harrison then, even if a reflex from De Gea on Pio Esposito with time expired is needed to save the point. In the end it’s only the Viola fans who are partying.