FLORENCE – The ambitions were different, but neither team came away satisfied. The match finished 0-0 between Inter and Fiorentina, and the point was almost lost before being immediately salvaged by Julio Cesar.
It was the first match after the untimely passing of Piermario Morosini and a minute of silence was observed in his honour before kick-off at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Both sides had chances in the first half but came away empty-handed. The breakthrough could have arrived in the second half when Valeri whistled a penalty against Inter; the tenth this season and the fifth coming from the Roman ref. The foul was from Julio Cesar's contact on Lazzari, but when Ljajic stepped up the Nerazzurri keeper wasn't in the mood and saved his effort.
FIRST HALF - Stramaccioni had a healthy Maicon again and mixed experience with youth in front of the defensive line by fielding the tandem of Cambiasso and Poli. Sneijder began on the bench, and Alvarez, Forlan and Zarate lined up behind lone forward Milito. With Amauri suspended and Jovetic injured, Fiorentina coach Rossi chose Cerci and Ljajic in attack.
Both teams were united in silence to remember Morosini and then aggressive in their quest for victory; Inter had their eye on third place while the Viola had salvation on their mind. The first chance fell to the hosts after 2 minutes of play when Lazzari went deep and cut back to Kharja, but the right-footer from the former Inter player went out for a goal kick. Forlan responded at the other end but his shot was saved by Boruc. Two minutes later Lazzari attempted a rather ambitious effort from midfield but the ball finished just off target. Inter were creating in the Viola box but Natali and his team-mates knew how to snuff out the danger, while Cerci and Kharja did the rest in Inter's half. In the 25th minute Forlan's long pass found Zarate, but after some hypnotic dribbling his shot finished slightly to the right of Boruc. Cerci had another go at goal after beating Poli and Maicon, but his powerful right-footed blast on Julio Cesar's goal rose too high. One of Inter's attacks in the 42nd minute led to contact between Nastasic and Lucio in the box; the Brazilian went to the turf but Valeri waved for him to get back up. The referee however intervened on 45 minutes for Milito's verbal response to Nastasic for an elbow in the back of El Principe, showing the yellow card to both players. After 1 minute of injury time the half ended at 0-0.
SECOND HALF - Stramaccioni took off Zanetti as a precautionary measure for the muscular discomfort the Argentine was feeling and sent on Nagatomo in his place. Another individual action from Zarate finished with a shot just over the bar in the 47th minute. After a month's absence Sneijder stepped onto the pitch in the 54th minute, replacing Forlan. Ljajic caused a fright when sending his free kick into the heart of the box, but Lucio's decisive intervention cleared the danger. A minute after the Serbian attacker served Camporese, but with Lucio on his back the young defender miss-hit his cross and sent the ball into the side netting.
In the 68th minute came the decisive moment; Lazzari was sent through on goal as Julio Cesar came off his line. The keeper's arms touched the attacker and the referee whistled and pointed to the spot for the 10th penalty awarded against Inter this season. Ljajic stepped up to take it, only to see his kick saved by the Nerazzurri's number one. On a Viola corner in the 79th minute Nastasic chested the ball down before firing just over the bar. There were several more Inter attempts on goal: Zarate's left-footer (84 minutes), Nagatomo's right (85 minutes) and Milito's shot on the turn (88 minutes). Everyone was looking for the winning goal in the end but Boruc did his part to thwart the Argentines and the Japanese full-back hit the side-netting with his attempt. After 3 minutes of injury time the match between Fiorentina and Inter ended at 0-0, leaving Inter with 49 points in the standings.
Fiorentina 0-0 Inter
Fiorentina: 1 Boruc; 31 Camporese, 14 Natali, 15 Nastasic; 16 Cassani, 13 Kharja, 85 Behrami (Salifu 67), 21 Lazzari, 23 Pasqual; 7 Cerci; 22 Ljajic (Acosty 72).
Unused subs: 89 Neto, 5 Gamberini, 10 Olivera, 18 Montolivo, 29 De Silvestri.
Coach: Delio Rossi.
Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 26 Chivu (Ranocchia 82), 4 Zanetti (Nagatomo 46); 18 Poli, 19 Cambiasso; 11 Alvarez, 9 Forlan (Sneijder 54), 28 Zarate; 22 Milito
Unused subs: 12 Castellazzi, 5 Stankovic, 14 Guarin, 7 Pazzini.
Coach: Andrea Stramaccioni.
Referee: Paolo Valeri (Rome).
Booked: Chivu 16, Nastasic 45, Milito 45, Julio Cesar 68, Acosty 73, Pasqual 77, St., Lucio 80, Cerci 84.
Added time: 1 + 3 minutes.
