Inter had forward Alexis Sanchez to thank for their victory over Fiorentina in Serie A yesterday evening, according to ex-Nerazzurri defender Daniele Adani.

Goals from Nicolo Barella and Ivan Perisic either side of half-time sent Antonio Conte’s side a point clear at the top of the table, as Inter secured a comfortable victory at the Stadio Artemio Franchi ahead of AC Milan’s visit of Crotone tomorrow.

However, whilst appearing on a live Twitch stream with former Inter striker Christian Vieri earlier today, Adani insisted that the difference maker was Chile international Sanchez, before he was substituted for Lautaro Martinez in the second half.

“Inter managed the match comfortably even when the scores were level, and it was only a matter of time before the scored,” Adani claimed. “The player who made the difference in only an hour on the pitch was Alexis Sanchez.

“He played for Barcelona with [Lionel] Messi, [Andres] Iniesta, Xavi, [Sergio] Busquets, Neymar, [David] Villa, then he went to Arsenal alongside [Tomas] Rosicky, [Mesut] Ozil, then on to Manchester United with a lot of big players.

“He has adapted his game to create chances for all those different types of teammates. He gave the ball to Barella who then scored the beautiful goal, and the move to [Achraf] Hakimi is the same one used against Juventus in the Coppa Italia last week.

“Anyone who knows about football knows that these passes require synergy with the movement of teammates. When there is no movement, Sanchez uses feints and tricks to wait for the movement and allow his teammates to push on.”

Sanchez joined Inter from Premier League club Manchester United on a free transfer last summer after spending last season on loan at the Nerazzurri. The 32-year-old has scored six goals in 52 appearances for Inter.

Adani, meanwhile, represented the Biscione from 2002 to 2004 after signing from Fiorentina, where he had lifted the Coppa Italia, but only made 30 appearances before rejoining former club Brescia.