Inter leads Serie A after beating Fiorentina | Football24 News English

Inter moved to top spot in Serie A on Friday, thanks to a 2-0 win over Fiorentina.

Nicoló Barella opened the scoring with a great first-half goal, while Ivan Perisic increased the lead shortly after the break, for the Nerazzurri to claim their first victory in Florence since 2014.

Inter took a point over Milan, who host bottom Crotone on Sunday.

With the victory, Inter managed to recover from the defeat suffered on Tuesday against Juventus in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals. The return will take place in Turin next week.

Barella scored with a great warped shot that inflated the lateral net in the 31st minute.

This spurred Fiorentina, which forced two interventions by goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, first to prevent a goal from Giacomo Bonaventura and then to thwart an attempt by Cristiano Biraghi.

Romelu Lukaku could have made it 2-0 shortly before intermission, but his header was poor after a cross from Chilean Alexis Sánchez.

The difference effectively widened seven minutes into the complement, when Achraf Hakimi dribbled from the right wing and sent a pass into the area, where Perisic defined to the far post.

Inter missed an opportunity to score the third goal when Lukaku was overruled for offside.