Inter collapses in Florence 3-0, Napoli remains alone at the top

Florence, 6 February 2025 - The recoveries at Inter do not bring good luck. In Florence the collapse of the team has arrived Inzaghi who fell badly by three to zero against an extraordinary Fiorentina, dragged by the double of Kean, opened by the network of Ranieri around the hour mark. The Nerazzurri effectively closed the match without shooting on target, showing an unrecognisable version of themselves on a bad night well explained by the third goal, with a ball gifted to Kean who slotted in Summer out of the goalposts. The defeat means that the Napoli remains alone at the top of the table, this time with no games to recover and the three-point advantage has become effective. The purple party is worth instead the tie to the fourth place Champions to continue dreaming big.

Balanced first half

The match resumes from the seventeenth minute, that is the moment of Bove's illness, with a throw-in for the Fiorentina, with the two coaches unable to use their new signings. Inzaghi still relies on Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram, while in midfield Frattesi is the starter with Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan. Palladino with Kean as centre forward, supported by Beltran in a 4-4-2 dictated by the absences. Inter have possession of the ball and the first chance is Lautaro's, in the nineteenth minute, with a right-footed shot from distance that De Gea defuses in the corner. The score of the match is quite clear: the Nerazzurri keep possession of the ball, the Viola create density in the defensive phase without giving spaces and attack vertically. In the 21st minute an acceleration by Bastoni splits Palladino's defense to present himself to the shot from just inside the area, but Ranieri closes in style with a slide. The guests are better at the start of the continuation. At 29' Inter again with a free kick Calhanoglu from the left vertex from which a melee breaks out in the area that Fiorentina thwarts with difficulty in front of De Gea's goal. It is the prelude to the goal, which arrives two minutes later. From the following corner, Bastoni is too free on the edge of the area and puts it back into the center of the area where he emerges Carlos Augusto for the winning left-footed shot. But there is the VAR, which intervenes and identifies an offside by the Inter winger. It remains like this for a matter of centimetres. Once the fear has passed, Fiorentina, at the first real opportunity of its match, comes close to taking the lead. The credit goes to Parisi, who draws a cross with a rev counter for Kean which finds a great save from Sommer. The home team finds better distances and measures at the end of the half and a second chance arrives: this time it is Kean who puts Dodò in goal who fires a diagonal shot wide from a very good position. On the opposite side, however, it is always the set pieces that create concern and on another free kick from Calhanoglu from the top Mandragora puts his head in to avoid trouble for the goal defended by De Gea. At half time the score remains 0-0.

Then Fiorentina flies

The second half opened in the same way, with the guests managing possession and the Viola looking for open play to unleash their athleticism. Kean. Inzaghi is not very satisfied with his players and starts to warm up the bench in view of some changes, which will probably be late, and Fiorentina seems to be in control of the game. The ball possession Inter he is not fast enough to create a gap in Palladino's defence and so the only way is to go down the wings: cross from Dumfries and turn from Lautaro high. Inter's ball circulation fails to break through because there are no gaps between the lines and Fiorentina only sends Inzaghi's team out wide, who therefore chew up possession without any real construction that could create danger. And so, the home team goes through. From the corner of Richardson the left one appears Ranieri, with Frattesi inattentive, and the ball goes into the corner hole: 1-0 at 60'. Inter can't find the end of the story while the home team has gained confidence with the goal, making the match even tougher for the Italian champions. The disaster comes at 67' with a loss in midfield between Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan, so the Viola in two passes goes to goal with Dodò who crosses for the aerial paw of Kean: 0-2. Inzaghi changes immediately and chooses Dimarco, Barella and Arnautovic to try to get back on track in a match that now seems to be over. Inter tries to react and it is Arnautovic who acts as a support for Stretcher, but the right is too soft and imprecise. The fact that there are no great ideas is demonstrated by an attempt from midfield of Marco's with De Gea out of the goalposts who recovers his position and saves easily. Not only do the guests not find solutions but Fiorentina can also enjoy wide spaces on the counterattack, despite lacking the precision to make the third. Inzaghi's last cards are Asllani and Taremi to give a jolt and propitiate a comeback that seems impossible. In fact it does not arrive, despite Palladino remaining with zero substitutions until the 88th minute having the rotations extremely shortened. The opportunity to reopen it would be in the ninetieth minute area, but arnautovic, on Lautaro's pass, he loses the ball and unexpectedly fails to shoot, stumbling himself. Inter's bad evening then reaches its lowest point at the end, when Dimarco and Barella do not understand each other and open the door to Kean which catches Sommer out of goal: 3-0, game set and match. Fiorentina catches up with Lazio in fourth place, while Inter does not take advantage of the asterisk and leaves Napoli alone at the top.