Inter Milan Sweat Until the 97th Minute to Edge Fiorentina 2-1 on Stoppage-Time Penalty

Inter Milan had to wait until the 97th minute to settle a match that proved far more complicated than it should have. At the Giuseppe Meazza, Cristian Chivu's side ended up winning 2-1 over Fiorentina, but it took a stoppage-time penalty after falling behind and then equalizing almost at the death.

The match, part of Serie A, produced a goalless first half despite Inter clearly controlling play: shots from Nicolo Barella, Carlos Augusto and Henrikh Mkhitaryan all went begging before the break. Fiorentina, for its part, barely threatened, with just one early attempt from Franco Mastantuono and little else.

Alex Jimenez's blow and a late response

The story seemed to be turning against the home side in the 64th minute, when Alex Jimenez curled a right-footed strike from outside the box into the top corner, assisted by Nicolo Fagioli. The 0-1 silenced the Meazza just when Inter had already carved out several clear chances to go ahead, including a shot from Carlos Augusto that struck the crossbar in the 70th minute.

The equalizer came in the dying seconds of regulation: in the 90th minute, Marcus Thuram finished left-footed from the center of the box off an assist from Andy Diouf to make it 1-1. The match headed into stoppage time with everything still up for grabs, and in the added minutes, which the fourth official extended to six, the decisive penalty arrived: a foul by Valde inside the box on Thuram himself, which Piotr Zielinski converted with his right foot into the left corner in the 97th minute for the final 2-1.

A dominance the numbers confirm

The final score does not fully capture the gap between the two teams on the field. Inter controlled possession, generated far more attacking volume and finished with a wide advantage in shots on target.

According to our own estimate calculated from the match's shots, Inter generated 2.876 expected goals compared to just 0.324 for Fiorentina, a gap that makes clear Chivu's side deserved far more than the scoreline showed heading into stoppage time.

Beforehand, we had projected a 72% win probability for Inter, 18% for a draw and just 10% for Fiorentina, with expected goals of 2.6 for the home side and 0.95 for the visitors. The result ended up matching that forecast on the final score, though the path there was tenser than expected: Fiorentina came within minutes of snatching a point that the numbers never saw coming.

What the result means in the standings

The win keeps Inter atop Serie A with 22 points from 8 matches, level with Lazio but ahead on goal difference. Fiorentina, meanwhile, remains stuck near the bottom: with just 4 points from 8 outings, Paolo Vanoli's side has managed only one win and carries a heavily negative goal difference that leaves it among the lowest in the table. The 18-point gap between the two sides is just as wide as what the numbers showed on the field.

For Inter, the match leaves behind a win that was harder-earned than it should have been against an opponent that, despite creating almost nothing, came close to taking something away from the Meazza. For Fiorentina, the feeling of having competed with next to no ammunition and coming away empty-handed in the match's final breath.