Inter lose 1 - 0 to Fiorentina at San Siro

INTER 0-1 FIORENTINA

Goalscorers: 53' Bonaventura (F)

INTER (3-5-2): 24 Onana; 36 Darmian, 15 Acerbi, 95 Bastoni (6 De Vrij 63'); 2 Dumfries, 23 Barella, 77 Brozovic (9 Dzeko 78'), 22 Mkhitaryan (14 Asllani 78'), 8 Gosens (12 Bellanova 63'); 90 Lukaku, 11 Correa (10 Lautaro 63'). Substitutes: 1 Handanovic, 21 Cordaz, 5 Gagliardini, 45 Carboni, 46 Zanotti. Coach: Simone Inzaghi.

FIORENTINA (4-2-3-1): 1 Terracciano; 2 Dodo, 28 Quarta (4 Milenkovic 46'), 98 Igor, 3 Biraghi; 10 Castrovilli (34 Amrabat 66'), 38 Mandragora (72 Barak 76'); 11 Ikone (16 Ranieri 76'), 5 Bonaventura, 8 Saponara (33 Sottil 66'); 9 Cabral. Substitutes: 31 Cerofolini, 51 Vannucchi, 15 Terzic, 22 Gonzalez, 23 Venuti, 42 Bianco, 77 Brekalo, 99 Kouamé. Coach: Vincenzo Italiano.

Bookings: Castrovilli (F), Ikone (F), Brozovic (I), Amrabat (F) Notes: Italiano booked (F) Added time: 2' - 6'.

Referee: Maresca. Assistants: Colarossi, Capaldo. Fourth official: Cosso. VAR: Marini. VAR assistant: Di Bello.

Unfortunately, it was a match we have seen before: full of chances, sighs, and screams choked in the throat of all watching. Incredible, but it happened again. Inter played, created, dominated, and came close to scoring many times, many times, but failed to get anything from the game. Another defeat, the third in a row: Fiorentina won at San Siro. A close-range header by Bonaventura decided the 0-1 scoreline. There is huge regret, the clear-cut chances are on everyone's minds. Inter, however, remain at 50 points, in an increasingly tight fight for Champions League qualification.

You look at the calendar, you feel the spring, you see the month of April, you cross off the days with Inter's fixtures, and you realise that it will be a long, intense month, full of excitement and tension. The warm sun, the blue sky, the packed stadium, as always. San Siro is the frame of a painting, the green of the Meazza shone for Inter vs Fiorentina, after a long international break. Trips around Europe and the world that have had an effect on the boys and their situations. With Skriniar, Calhanoglu and Dimarco all unavailable, Inzaghi opts for Brozovic in the midfield and Correa alongside Lukaku up front, with Gosens on the left. The match got underway and the first few minutes offered, to tell the truth, a confusing match where anything could happen. At first, Fiorentina were better. Then Inter grew into the game, settled it down, took the ball and began to work the flanks of Italiano's team. The role of Lukaku was important, good at holding up play both on the long and short side. Romelu was very good at sucking Fiorentina's high defence down to midfield and opening up open spaces especially on the right for Dumfries. The Belgian unleashed his power and speed, flying several times through the open field. Inter created a lot, repeatedly. They brought the pace, on the breaks and exploiting open spaces. But they had to watch out for Fiorentina, who mainly with Ikone and Castrovilli's runs, were dangerous in front of goal. Onana stopped the Viola number 10 miraculously after 13 minutes, with a double intervention. Inter found in Mkhitaryan a great creator, uncatchable with and without the ball in the centre of the park. In the 21st minute, the Armenian came up with a move that had the whole of San Siro on their feet: a driving run from midfield, beating two on the dribble and another cut into the box to bring the defender to the ground and a shot from two yards out that was parried by Terracciano. On the rebound, Mkhitaryan tried an incredible bicycle kick: the effort was reminiscent of Djorkaeff with Roma, the outcome was a beautiful acrobatic move with the ball going just wide. The sincere applause from all present is one to remember, but the result still read 0-0.

Lukaku and Dumfries' pace continued to trouble the visiting defence, but somehow Inter were unable to find the opener and went into the break goalless, thanks in part to a clumsy mistake in front of goal by Ikone, who missed a simple tap-in from a few yards out. The second half was a photocopy of the first 45. Straight away, Inter were pushing for a goal with Bastoni's forward run, Lukaku not finding the winning touch with Terracciano beaten. Then, right on time, came the biting goal. Bonaventura scored in the 53rd minute with a header after Onana had made a great save on Cabral's first effort from a corner. The post hit by Barella six minutes later - a beautiful, unstoppable volley from the edge of the area - drew the Nerazzurri's afternoon to near-perfection. From then on, it was all sighs, cheers, a lot of willpower and little luck. Dumfries missed a right-footed shot in front of Terracciano, then the Viola goalkeeper denied Bellanova the equalizer with his feet. The final onslaught included the three-forwards, with the entry of Dzeko and Lautaro, but it was no use to undermine Fiorentina who, compact and with malice, chased the match until the 97th minute.

SERIE A - 28th MATCHDAY

CREMONESE 1-3 ATALANTA INTER 0-1 FIORENTINA JUVENTUS vs HELLAS VERONA - Saturday 1 April, 20.45 CEST BOLOGNA vs UDINESE - Sunday 2 April, 12.30 CEST MONZA vs LAZIO - Sunday 2 April, 15.00 CEST SPEZIA vs SALERNITANA - Sunday 2 April, 15.00 CEST ROMA vs SAMPDORIA - Sunday 2 April, 18.00 CEST NAPOLI vs MILAN - Sunday 2 April, 20.45 CEST EMPOLI vs LECCE - Monday 3 April, 18.30 CEST SASSUOLO vs TORINO - Monday 3 April, 20.45 CEST

THE TABLE

Napoli 71 Lazio 52 Inter 50* Atalanta 49* Milan 48 Roma 47 Juventus 41 (-15) Fiorentina 40* Udinese 38 Bologna 37 Torino 37 Sassuolo 36 Monza 34 Empoli 28 Lecce 27 Salernitana 27 Spezia 24 Hellas Verona 19 Sampdoria 15 Cremonese 14*

*denotes game in hand