Final score

10 December 2011 20:45

Inter
4' (2nd half) Nagatomo
41' Pazzini
2 - 0
Fiorentina
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento / Linesmen: Giordano, Ghiandai / Fourth official: Gallioni
Watch highlights
Minute Text commentary
45' The first half ends with no time added on. Pazzini's 41st-minute finish has given Inter a 1-0 lead over Fiorentina
41' GOAL FOR INTER! Coutinho plays a ball in behind the defence for Pazzini, who beats Natali and clips past Boruc from a tight angle
38' Maicon is booked for a late challenge on Vargas
34' Milito feeds Nagatomo, who reaches the byline only to run into Boruc. Corner to Inter
31' First real chance for Inter: Coutinho surges past his man with a dip of his shoulder and fires towards the far post, saved by Boruc
27' Coutinho's cross from the left is blocked by Gamberini's chest and left arm
22' Milito defends the ball before feeding Pazzini, who tries to pick out Coutinho's run, but the Brazilian is disturbed by De Silvestri
20' Vargas fouls Faraoni, Maicon swings in the free kick, Lucio leaps and heads wide
18' Lucio crosses to the far post, Pazzini connects with his head after De Silvestri but his effort is off target
15' Pazzini is fouled by Natali on the right wing. Free kick for Inter. It comes to nothing
11' Pazzini lays off for Nagatomo and the Japanese full-back goes for goal from a long way out. Wide
10' Coutinho hits a cross into the box for Pazzini, who stretches to get his head on it but can't can't make enough contact
5' Milito wins the Nerazzurri their first corner as his shot from the edge of the box is deflected behind. Munari clears the resulting corner
5' Nagatomo shoots right-footed from distance: wide
4' Coutinho slips a ball through for Pazzini and the striker sticks out his right boot: Boruc is alert to make the save
3' Behrami looks to play in Gilardino but he's offside
1' Welcome to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza for Inter v Fiorentina, the Nerazzurri's 2011/12 Serie A Week 15 fixture
1' The Nerazzurri take the kick-off and Inter v Fiorentina begins. FORZA INTER!!!
1' For Fiorentina, Ljajic starts in the hole behind Gilardino while Jovetic is in the stands
1' Pazzini and Milito start up front for the Nerazzurri while Lucio and Maicon return to the back line. Cambiasso takes the captain's armband
1' Ranieri is without Zanetti (suspended) and injured trio Chivu, Forlan and Sneijder, while Delio Rossi is missing Montolivo and Cerci
Minute Text commentary
48' After 3 minutes of added time Inter v Fiorentina ends 2-0 thanks to goals from Pazzini and Nagatomo. The Nerazzurri move up to 17 points
46' De Silvestri crosses, the ball comes off Behrami's shoulder and finishes behind the goal
45' Tagliavento awards 3 minutes of stoppage time
43' Kharja plays a long ball for Gilardino, Samuel shuts him out
41' A wonderful cross from Pasqual picks out Silva's head: Julio Cesar saves it easily
40' Muntari finds Pazzini but the striker fires over the bar with just Boruc to beat
32' What a chance for Inter! Maicon's cross is met at the far post by Muntari, who knocks it back across the face of the goal just inches beyond Pazzini's reach
30' Another change for Fiorentina: Lazzari is replaced by Kharja
22' A great left-footer from Thiago Motta goes wide
20' Delio Rossi shuffles his front line as Silva comes on for Ljajic
19' Another substitution for Inter: Zarate replaces Milito
18' Faraoni tries a right-footed volley. Boruc saves
17' Ranieri also makes a change: Muntari comes on for Coutinho
10' Salifu's long ball for Gilardino is cut out by Lucio
7' First change for Fiorentina: Munari makes way for Salifu
6' Gamberini is shown a yellow card
4' 2-0 to Inter! Nagatomo runs onto Pazzini's long ball, Pasqual and Behrami mess up and the ball bounces off Nagatomo and beyond Boruc
1' The second half is under way with no changes made
Cambiasso
6.6
6.6
Julio Cesar
6.74
6.74
Samuel
7.05
7.05
Maicon
7.17
7.17
Muntari
4.45
4.45
Milito
6.05
6.05
Motta
6.83
6.83
Lucio
7.22
7.22
Coutinho
7.55
7.55
Pazzini
7.3
7.3
Nagatomo
7.56
7.56
Faraoni
8.11
8.11
Zarate
4.64
4.64
Average rating 6.71
7 shots on target 2
9 shots off target 5
12 fouls committed 12
6 corners 2
1 offsides 1
27:55 ball possession 22:40
Ranieri leads head-to-heads with his ex-club

Claudio Ranieri has met Fiorentina 12 times as a coach, with 6 wins, 3 draws (all 1-1) and 3 wins for the Tuscan side. In those games Ranieri's sides have always scored - 19 in total.

Rossi v Inter: one win in 23 for current Viola coach

This is the 24th match-up between Delio Rossi and Inter in competitive matches. So far the current Palermo coach has managed a single win (Lecce 2-1 Inter in Serie A on 2 May 2004), with 5 draws and 17 victories for the Nerazzurri.

Ranieri v Rossi: all square with plenty of goals

Claudio Ranieri has taken on the Delio Rossi 8 times before, with ties perfectly matched: 3 wins apiece and 2 draws. Excluding their first match-up, which ended 0-0 in 2006/07, in the other 7 games goals have always been scored by both Ranieri's sides (16) and Rossi's teams (13).

Inter have won last 10 home games against the Viola

Since the last time Fiorentina won in San Siro (4-0 on 7 May 2000), Inter have won all ten competitive fixtures between the two clubs in Milan, scoring 22 goals in the process.

Cambiasso's goals against Fiorentina

Esteban Cambiasso has scored more goals in competitive fixtures against Fiorentina than against any other team since he arrived Italy: 5 of the midfielder's 41 goals have come against the Viola.

December a great month for Ranieri

For Claudio Ranieri, December (along with April) is the month in which his sides have the highest points average per league game: 1.8, with 23 wins, 14 draws and 9 defeats from 46 matches. Ranieri's points average is actually higher in August (1.83), but not many league games are played in that month.

Fiorentina goalless on the road in 212 mins

The last goal Fiorentina scored away from home in a competitive fixture was on 25 October, when they lost 2-1 at Juventus in Serie A; Jovetic netted after 58 minutes. Since then, in the remaining 32 minutes of that match and the league games lost away to ChievoVerona (1-0) and Palermo (2-0), they have clocked up 212 minutes on the road without finding the net.

Fiorentina away: no wins in 8 months and 3 defeats on the bounce

Fiorentina's last victory away from the Stadio Franchi came on 23 April, when they beat Cagliari 1-2 in Serie A. In the 8 matches played away from home since then, the Viola have managed 3 draws and 5 defeats. What's more, they have been beaten in their last 3 away games, all in the league: Juventus (2-1), Chievo Verona (1-0) and Palermo (2-0). The last time they picked up a point on their travels was on 16 October at Cesena (0-0, Serie A). Should the Viola lose again today, it would be the first time they have lost 4 in a row since April-September 2010 (all in Serie A).

Rossi seeking revenge for defeat in Coppa Italia final

Inter have proved to be Delio Rossi's bogey team: the coach has beaten the Nerazzurri just once in 23 competitive matches. He last faced - and lost to - Inter on 29 May when his Palermo team lost 3-1 in the Coppa Italia final played in Rome.

DA IMPLEMENTARE
wins(51) draws(20) defeats(16)

MILAN - Inter finally got back to winning ways in front of the Meazza faithful with a 2-0 win over Fiorentina. Pazzini scored his first league goal for 77 days to give Ranieri's side the lead following Coutinho's pass at the end of the first half. After the break Nagatomo made the most of a defensive mix-up to make it two. The Nerazzurri move up to 17 points.

FIRST HALF – Claudio Ranieri had to make do without Zanetti against Fiorentina as the captain sat out his first ever match in Serie A due to suspension. The coach went with experienced duo Lucio and Samuel at the heart of defence while Maicon was welcomed back on the right and Nagatomo started on the left. In midfield, there was youth on the flanks with Coutinho and Faraoni, and Motta and Cambiasso in the engine room. Pazzini partnered Milito up front.

During the warm-up the players were taken by the images on the stadium's giant screen: a testimony to Peppino Prisco, who passed away ten years ago but would have celebrated his 90th birthday today.

The first chance of the game fell to the Nerazzurri in the 4th minute when Coutinho played in Pazzini for the shot, which Boruc saved. A minute later Nagatomo went for goal from a distance without managing to hit the target. Moments later Coutinho was again the supplier but this time for Milito, whose shot was deflected behind for a corner. And in the 10th minute another useful ball from the Brazilian youngster proved just too much of a stretch for Pazzini. On 18 minutes Lucio's hard cross to the far post saw Pazzini leap with De Silvestri, the Viola defender coming out on top. Coutinho created a great chance by himself in the 31st minute as he burst past the defence and arrowed his effort towards the far post, only for Boruc to stick out a hand and deny him; from the rebound, Faraoni's shot was deflected behind for a corner. The deadlock was broken after 41 minutes when Pazzini ended his barren streak in the league that went back to Bologna v Inter on 24 September: Coutinho chipped a ball into the box, Pazzini ran onto it beating Natali and clipped a neat finish past Boruc with the outside of his boot. That was the last meaningful action of the first half, which ended with no added time.

SECOND HALF – No changes were made during the interval and 4 minutes after the restart the Nerazzurri had doubled their lead: Pazzini played a ball in from the left and the Fiorentina defence made a complete hash-up as Pasqual cannoned the ball off Nagatomo and into the goal. In the 67th minute Thiago Motta fizzed a wicked low drive just past Boruc's right-hand post. A minute later that was followed by the visitors' first shot on target: Vargas' low free kick deflected off the wall on its way to goal but Julio Cesar was alert to keep it out. A great chance fell to Muntari in the 77th minute when Maicon picked out the midfielder on the edge of the six-yard box: the Ghanaian's side-footed effort was poor but Pazzini almost managed to connect from a few yards out as he slid in. With 5 minutes of normal time remaining Inter had another good chance: Muntari put Pazzini through alone in front of Boruc but the keeper denied him. As the game drew to a close Gilardino kept looking for a way to pull one back but to no avail. After three minutes of added time, Inter v Fiorentina finished 2-0.


Inter 2-0 Fiorentina (HT: 1-0)
Scorers: Pazzini 41, Nagatomo 49.

Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 25 Samuel, 55 Nagatomo; 37 Faraoni, 8 Thiago Motta, 19 Cambiasso, 29 Coutinho (Muntari 62); 7 Pazzini, 22 Milito (Zarate 64).
Subs: 12 Castellazzi, 2 Cordoba, 11 Alvarez, 18 Poli, 30 Castaignos.
Coach: Claudio Ranieri.

Fiorentina: 1 Boruc; 29 De Silvestri, 5 Gamberini, 14 Natali, 23 Pasqual; 85 Behrami, 20 Munari (Salifu 52), 21 Lazzari (Kharja 75), 6 Vargas; 22 Ljajic (Silva 65); 11 Gilardino.
Subs: 89 Neto, 15 Nastasic, 28 Romizi, 92 Romulo.
Coach: Delio Rossi.


Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Terni).
Booked: Maicon 38, Gamberini 51.
Added time: 0+3 minutes.
Attendance: 39,917.



starting lineups

Julio Cesar 1 Boruc
Maicon 13 De Silvestri
Lucio 6 Gamberini
Samuel 25 Natali
Nagatomo 55 Pasqual
Faraoni 37 Behrami
Motta 8 Munari
Cambiasso 19 Lazzari
Coutinho 29 Vargas
Pazzini 7 Ljajic
Milito 22 Gilardino

substitutes

Castellazzi 12 Neto
Cordoba 2 Silva
Alvarez 11 Kharja
Poli 18 Nastasic
Zarate 28 Salifu
Castaignos 30 Romizi
Muntari 77 Romulo