Inter Milan’s advantage at the top of Serie A has been trimmed to just six points following a 1-1 draw against Fiorentina. The Nerazzurri initially took the lead through Francesco Pio Esposito, but Cher Ndour’s late equalizer ensured a share of the spoils.
This result compounded Inter’s recent challenges, coming on the heels of a Derby della Madonnina defeat and another 1-1 draw against Atalanta. The pressure intensified as title rivals Milan and Napoli had both secured victories earlier in the weekend. Inter faced a depleted squad, with key defenders Alessandro Bastoni joining Lautaro Martinez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the injury list. However, Hakan Calhanoglu and Denzel Dumfries were making a return to fitness. Aleksandar Kolarov stepped in for the suspended Cristian Chivu, and away fans from Inter were barred from attending due to security concerns.
Fiorentina, known as ‘The Viola,’ entered the match in strong form after a convincing 4-1 win over Cremonese on Monday and a 2-1 away triumph against Rakow in the Conference League on Thursday, setting up a quarter-final clash with Crystal Palace. Despite their recent success, Fiorentina dealt with their own injury woes, with Manor Solomon, Luca Lezzerini, and Tariq Lamptey sidelined, while Moise Kean was recovering from an ankle issue and Rolando Mandragora carried a calf strain.
Inter made an explosive start, breaking the deadlock in a mere 40 seconds. A clearance from Robin Gosens was poorly executed, allowing Nicolò Barella to quickly return the ball into the box from the right flank, where Francesco Pio Esposito was perfectly positioned to head home unmarked from close range.
Moments later, Gosens nearly contributed to another Inter goal with an errant clearance that fell to Marcus Thuram, leading to Esposito testing David De Gea from point-blank range. Both Moise Kean and Nicolò Barella saw goals disallowed for offside after receiving assists from Gosens and Denzel Dumfries, respectively. Around the eighth minute, Inter appealed for a penalty after a perceived handball by Marin Pongracic, but both the referee and VAR concluded that the defender’s arm was in a natural position.
Fiorentina began to assert themselves. Yann Sommer comfortably dealt with a curling effort from Kean, while Esposito cleverly beat the offside trap but saw his angled shot skim agonizingly wide of the far post. Albert Gudmundsson’s glancing header from a Dodô cross also went just inches wide, after deflecting off his shoulder. Yann Bisseck then made a crucial block to prevent Kean from tapping in a Gudmundsson delivery. From the ensuing corner, Kean again came close, sliding in at the back post but just failing to connect with Marco Brescianini’s assist. Sommer was forced into action twice more, rushing out to thwart Fabiano Parisi and then again after Kean had put Cher Ndour through on goal. Kean did find the net with a volley, but it was ruled offside as Nicolò Fagioli’s shot from outside the area took a significant deflection off Carlos Augusto before reaching him.
The second half saw a reduction in the frantic pace of the first, with Manuel Akanji and Thuram unable to direct their headers on target from set pieces. Fiorentina’s persistence grew, leading to a significant opportunity to equalize in the 71st minute. Sommer managed to parry Ndour’s first-time strike from the edge of the area, but Bisseck made a vital intervention to prevent Brescianini from tapping in the rebound. Fagioli also scuffed a volley wide, and Kean could only graze a Dodô cross with his head. However, Fiorentina’s increasing pressure eventually paid off. Sommer could only palm Gudmundsson’s angled drive directly into the path of Ndour at the back post, who calmly slotted home to level the score in the 77th minute.
Fiorentina continued to press for a winner, with Jack Harrison curling a left-footed shot just wide of the far post. At the other end, an off-balance Akanji could only prod a header weakly into De Gea’s arms after a corner. In the very last moments of the game, Esposito skillfully controlled an Acerbi cross with his back to goal, turned past Luca Ranieri, and unleashed a shot, but was denied by a brilliant reaction save from De Gea, preserving the draw.
Fiorentina 1-1 Inter
Esposito 1 (I), Ndour 77 (F)
