Inter bat Fiorentina away 4-3 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence after a classic Pazza Inter performance where Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the winner deep into injury time.
The Nerazzurri started the game brilliantly when Nicolo Barella broke the deadlock after only 2 minutes, assisted by Lautauro Martinez.
The Argentinian doubled Inter’s lead in the 15th minute before Federico Dimarco gave a way a silly penalty in the 33rd which Arthur Cabral converted.
In the second half Inter started well but Fiorentina equalized after a wonderful goal by Jonathan Ikoné before Lautaro Martinez was brought down in the penalty area and converted the spot-kick himself.
In the 90th minute Luka Jovic equalized before Hemrikh Mkhitaryan had the time to both miss a sitter as well as open his Inter account to win all three points for the Nerazzurri in deep into stoppage time.
André Onana – 6: Didn’t have his best game, but can’t really be blamed for any of the goals. Looked a bit shaky when handling the ball with both hands and feet but resolved all his issues.
Milan Skriniar – 7: One of two Inter players who was not just good but very good defensively. A true captain and the leader at the back who finally now has the captain’s armband.
Stefan de Vrij – 6: Struggled in the air as Fiorentina was bombarding Inter’s area. The usual compactness we’ve see these last few weeks was missing but he fought and worked very hard throughout.
Francesco Acerbi – 5: Poor performance by the former Lazio defender, struggling throughout from start to finish and was lucky his mistakes didn’t cost Inter more goals than the three conceded.
Matteo Darmian – 5: Had a bad game throughout as he couldn’t handle Fiorentina’s wingers defensively and caused Ikoné’s 2-2 goal. Offered virtually nothing in attack either. A game to forget.
Nicolo Barella – 7,5: Scored the opening goal and highly involved in the winning goal. In between he ran the full length of the pitch non-stop, fought incredibly hard and worked his socks off.
Hakan Calhanoglu – 6,5: Wasn’t as impressive with the ball as in both games against Barcelona and Salernitana but made up a lot of it with his work-rate off the ball. Corners and set-pieces always a threat, as was the case tonight.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6,5: Struggled defensively throughout, missed the ball completely when applying the finish to a sitter at the end but got the winning goal when stumbling the ball over the line at the death.
Federico Dimarco – 5: Didn’t have a good day at all as Fiorentina identified his wing as the weakest link defensively capitalizing on it. Made good runs offensively but the timing and the understanding with team-mates off.
Joaquin Correa – 5: Makes a lot of runs which at times help the team, like when opening space for Lautaro’s 2-0 but more often than not makes pointless runs which are both frustrating to watch for fans and his team-mates.
Lautaro Martinez – 8: Inter’s only consistently world class player who also helps the team defensively sacrificing himself when working hard. Scored a stunning goal, made a lovely assist and a top class penalty. Complete striker.
Edin Dzeko – 6,5: Replaced Correa in the 61st minute and immediately made an impact on the team with his intelligent build-up play combining physique and technique, exemplified in the lead up to the winning goal.
Denzel Dumfries – 6: Brought on in the 67th minute for Darmian and although he did better than the Italian wingback, it wasn’t a vast improvement, in particular defensively where he gave away silly free-kicks.
Robin Gosens – 6: Substituted on for Dimarco in the 67th minute and helped shut down Inter’s left flank successfully as well as offering a quick option in attack. Should start next game against Viktoria Plzen.
Raoul Bellanova – N/A: Came on for an exhausted Lautaro Martinez in the 85th minute and didn’t play long enough to be able to be rated.
Simone Inzaghi – 6: This win was more down to luck than tactical brilliance but his Inter is a team that never gives up and continues to score late if not in the dying minutes in games, which is a testament of character.
Paolo Valeri – 5: A poor performance by an inconsistent and incompetent referee that is completely out of his depth and always turns pretty much every game into a chaotic ordeal on and off the pitch.
Inter – 6: Finally some luck goes Inter’s way in terms of the actual result. Having said that the Nerazzurri created more than enough chances to win but defensively they are dreadful having conceded 17 goals in 11 Serie A games.
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