Inter Milan Edges Fiorentina With Late Stoppage-Time Goals

Inter Milan struck twice during stoppage time on Sunday to complete a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory against Fiorentina at San Siro, returning the club to the summit of Serie A. Alex Jimenez had seemingly put struggling Fiorentina on course for a surprising win with a long-range strike, but Marcus Thuram equalized in the 91st minute before drawing a late penalty that Piotr Zielinski converted in the final moments.

The hard-fought result lifted the Nerazzurri back into first place, level on 22 points with fellow pace-setters Lazio. Meanwhile, the defeat extended Fiorentina's winless run to four matches, leaving the Florence club mired in 18th place. Despite conceding for the 10th time this season and securing their fifth comeback victory of the campaign, Inter head coach Cristian Chivu remained unfazed by his squad's defensive vulnerabilities.

"That's football: sometimes you concede," Chivu told DAZN. "The important thing is not to let your heads drop and to maintain the same mentality. Ever since I arrived here, I've always said that games last 90 minutes. I don't want to see people feel sorry for themselves. I want to see players respond to setbacks."

Throughout the match, Inter dominated possession and created numerous scoring opportunities, but they repeatedly ran into a stubborn defense anchored by Fiorentina goalkeeper David de Gea. De Gea turned away efforts from Pio Esposito and Thuram during a scoreless first half. The visitors absorbed heavy pressure and eventually broke the deadlock against the run of play in the 65th minute when Jimenez surprised debutant Inter goalkeeper Ivan Provedel with an audacious angled shot from distance that sailed into the top corner.

Inter piled forward in search of an equalizer as Carlos Augusto hit the crossbar twice, while De Gea continued to frustrate the hosts with a string of crucial saves. However, Thuram's relentless pressure finally paid off in the 91st minute when his low shot trickled past De Gea into the bottom corner. Minutes later, Thuram was brought down inside the penalty area by Victor Valdepenas, prompting the referee to point to the spot.

Zielinski stepped up under immense pressure and confidently fired the resulting penalty into the roof of the net, giving De Gea no chance and sealing the pulsating 2-1 comeback. The victory rewarded Inter's persistence after recording a high volume of attacking pressure, while Fiorentina was left to rue a missed opportunity to pull off a major upset on the road against the reigning champions.