Primavera 1 TIM, Fiorentina 2 - 1 Inter

FLORENCE – The matchday five Primavera 1 TIM match between Fiorentina and Inter finished 2-1 to the home side after goals from Hanuljak and Meli secured a comeback victory for the Viola following Schirò’s opener for Inter. Next up for Armando Madonna’s Under-19 side is an away match against Barcelona in what will be Inter’s third game in the group stages of the Youth League.

In the game at the Stadio Bozzi, Inter were on the front foot straight away, with Gavioli being denied not just once but twice by Fiorentina’s goalkeeper Brancolini after three minutes. Inter’s dominance in the early stages paid off in the 6th minute as Schirò fired in after Gavioli’s lovely through ball. But as the minutes passed, the Viola grew into the game, with Dekic needing to be on hand to deny Beloko after Fiorentina’s number six managed to get a shot away. Fiorentina had another chance through Bocchio after 32 minutes, but the home side weren’t to be denied ten minutes later when Hanuljak profited from poor Inter play at the back and fired past Dekic after entering the penalty area. The teams therefore went into the break on level terms.

Inter had the first chance of the second half through Gavioli, but Brancolini managed to push his effort behind for a corner after a good counter-attack by the Nerazzurri. As was the case in the first half, it was Fiorentina who started to make the running after Inter’s bright start. Fiorentina looked dangerous, and Inter’s game plan was clear: the Nerazzurri were trying to hit the home side on the counter attack, especially after Salcedo and Mulattieri came onto the pitch. In the 74th  minute, Inter had a golden chance. It began with Gavioli, who led a counter-attack and played the ball out wide to Zappa. His ball into the box was then met by Adorante, but the effort by Inter’s number 9 unfortunately went wide. The Nerazzurri would go on to be punished six minutes from time as Meli scored with a fierce right-footed strike to make it 2-1. The Nerazzurri weren’t able to respond, meaning the match finished 2-1 to Fiorentina.

FIORENTINA 2-1 INTERGoalscorers: 6' Schirò, 42' Hanuljak, 84' Meli.

FIORENTINA: 1 Brancolini, 2 Ferrarini, 3 Simonti, 4 Dutu, 5 Gillekens, 6 Beloko, 7 Montiel (89’ Pierozzi 16), 8 Hanuljak (68’ Meli 20), 9 Bocchio, 10 Koffi, 11 LaktiBench: 12 Chiorra, 14 E. Pierozzi, 15 Antzoulas, 17 Fiorini, 18 Longo, 19 Toure, 21 Nannelli, 22 Servillo, 23 Simic, 24 KukovecCoach: Emanuele Bigica

INTER: 1 Dekic; 2 Grassini (57’ Zappa 13), 4 Nolan, 6 Van Den Eynden, 3 Corrado; 8 Gavioli, 5 Pompetti, 10 Schirò; 11 Colidio (63’ Salcedo 22), 9 Adorante, 7 Persyn (67’ Mulattieri 19)Bench: 12 Tintori, 21 Tononi, 14 Rizzo, 15 Roric, 16 Ballabio, 17 Rizzo Pinna, 18 Demirovic, 20 Merola, 23 VerganiCoach: Armando Madonna

Bookings: Ferrarini (48’), Beloko (49’)

Added time: 1' - 3'

Referee: Matteo GariglioAssistants: Cubicciotti and Perrelli