Inter Milan drops points again in draw with Fiorentina

Inter Milan dropped points again in the Serie A title race on Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Fiorentina at the San Siro as Denzel Dumfries rescued a point when he cancelled out Lucas Torreira’s opener.

Inter were top of the league last month but have won only one of their last seven games and now sit third on 60 points, three behind leaders Napoli, who have played a game more, and AC Milan, who are playing at Cagliari later on Saturday.

“There is bitterness. We wanted to win tonight and turn the situation around…We have to get back to our levels, there is quality in Inter and we have to go back to showing it. I’m happy for my goal but not for the final result,” Dumfries told Inter TV.

The goalkeepers were kept busy in a goalless first half, with Inter’s Samir Handanovic called into action to stop long-range efforts, while Fiorentina’s Pietro Terracciano denied Edin Dzeko from close range. But the visitors’ sustained pressure paid dividends early in the second half when Gaetano Castrovilli cut open Inter’s defence in the box to find Nicolas Gonzalez, whose quick cut-back was fired in by Torreira.

Inter responded less than five minutes later after the two wing backs combined, with Ivan Perisic floating a cross into the box for Dumfries to leap unmarked and head home.

The club also had a penalty overturned by the Video Assistant Referee while Jonathan Ikone nearly scored a winner for Fiorentina in added time but Handanovic came to the rescue once again as both sides shared the spoils.

“Ikone could have given us a nice gift in the last minutes, but I’m happy with what the boys did today,” Fiore manager Vincenzo Italiano said.

Torreira’s goal did come at a cost, however, with the 26-year-old revealing after the game that he had lost a tooth.

Italiano said; “I didn’t realise Torreira lost a tooth, but I can only congratulate him on how he gets there in front, he has the right timing as a goalscorer while others are struggling.

The goal was Torreira’s second in as many games and, following Dusan Vlahovic’s transfer to Juventus, the Uruguay midfielder is now Fiorentina’s joint-top scorer this season with four goals.

Fiorentina remain eighth in the table with 47 points, one point behind Atalanta, who have a game in hand, and AS Roma.

SuperSport/Mercy Chukwudiebere