Fiorentina led for 25 minutes, then Inter won it in the 90th

Inter beat Fiorentina 2-1 at the San Siro after two goals in the 90th minute, having trailed since the 65th.

Fiorentina held the lead for only 25 minutes at the San Siro, and they lost it deep into the match. The game had been goalless until the 65th minute, when Álex Jiménez scored with Nicolo Fagioli credited with the assist. Marcus Thuram then equalised in the 90th minute, and Piotr Zieliński added the winner from the penalty spot in the same minute. Inter won, but the finish is what changed the afternoon, not a long spell of pressure.

Inter had the ball for most of the game, and the proportion is ordinary for them at home, since they usually hold about the same share. The shot count is another matter. Inter took 33 shots, which is well above their usual home figure, and 26 of them came from inside the box. For context, a typical side in this league takes around 14 shots a match, so Inter were far busier than the average, and they were busy from the edges of the penalty area as well as from close range.

Those shots were not all of the highest quality, though. Expected goals is a rough measure of how likely a chance was to go in, based on where and how it was taken. Inter's total of 2.65 is close to what they usually create, so this was a normal level of chance-making rather than an unusually good one. The difference lay in the volume, not the sharpness. Eleven of the shots were on target, and David de Gea made eight saves to keep Fiorentina in the match until the closing stages.

Fiorentina had a far quieter evening than they usually do away from home. They had the ball for about a third of the match, well below their away norm, and managed only seven shots, against a usual figure of around 16. Their expected goals total of 0.25 is a small fraction of what they normally produce on the road. The lead, in other words, came from very little: one shot by Jiménez, which found the net. Their goal tally of one was close to their typical return, so the finishing was ordinary even if the chance count was not.

Individually, Thuram was the player who did the most with his opportunities. He had nine shots and hit the target four times, and his goal came in the same minute as the penalty that sealed the result. Andy Diouf, who provided the assist for Thuram, also won nine of his individual contests on the ground, the highest of any player in the match. Both earned their ratings, with Thuram's 8.2 the highest of the afternoon, but the value of their work lay in how it fed the late turnaround, not in the numbers alone.

Inter remain second in the table and have yet to lose a home league game this season, having won six and drawn one from seven. Fiorentina are 18th, and their away record reads one win, one draw and five defeats from seven matches. Fiorentina must now travel with a side that has taken only one win from its last six away trips, while Inter go into their next home match with a record that the table already shows as unbeaten.

Player of the matchM. Thuram1 goal8.2

P. Zieliński1 goal7.8

A. Diouf1 assist7.7

N. Fagioli1 assist7.4