Inter Milan scored twice in stoppage time to complete a remarkable 2-1 comeback win over Fiorentina at San Siro on Sunday, Marcus Thuram levelling in the 91st minute before winning the penalty that Piotr Zielinski converted in the 98th to send Cristian Chivu's side back to the top of Serie A.
For 90 minutes this looked like the afternoon Inter's unbeaten start died. Alex Jimenez, a former AC Milan player, had stunned the home crowd with a rocket from distance, David de Gea had defied everything thrown at him, and a Fiorentina side sitting 18th were minutes from a famous win. Instead, San Siro witnessed the kind of finish that defines title races.
De Gea defies Inter for an hour
Inter had the better of the first half but could not find a way past De Gea, who made a fingertip stop from a Pio Esposito header before showing quick reactions to parry a Thuram angled drive, as theScore reported in its account of the match. The Spaniard was alert again early in the second half, parrying a fierce Thuram strike over the bar, and for a long time it seemed his resistance would be the story of the day.
Chivu's side kept coming, but the final pass and the finishing touch deserted them. Fiorentina, compact and dangerous on the break, waited for one moment — and on 65 minutes it arrived in spectacular fashion.
Jimenez stuns San Siro
Jimenez, set up by Nicolo Fagioli, took Inter's debutant goalkeeper Ivan Provedel by surprise with an audacious angled strike from distance that flew into the top corner. It was a goal scored by a player developed across the city, against the run of play, and it silenced San Siro.
Inter piled forward in response. Carlos Augusto glanced a header off the top of the bar and De Gea denied substitute Petar Sucic, but the clock ran into added time with Fiorentina still ahead and their winless run of four games about to end in the most unlikely place. The champions-elect, it seemed, had run out of road.
Two goals in stoppage time turn it around
Then Thuram took over. In the first minute of stoppage time the French striker, fed by Andy Diouf, guided a shot into the bottom corner to level the scores and reignite the stadium. The goal also wrote Thuram into the club's history books: according to Opta figures reported by LiveScore, he is only the third Inter player since the introduction of three points for a win to score in at least seven consecutive home league matches, after Romelu Lukaku in 2021 and record-holder Christian Vieri, who managed 11 in 2003.
Fiorentina still thought they had a point. They did not. Thuram, again the central figure, was dragged down in the box by Victor Valdepenas, and Zielinski — on as a 78th-minute substitute for Hakan Calhanoglu — stepped up in the eighth minute of stoppage time to convert the penalty and complete a turnaround that will be replayed all season.
So what? Inter answer Lazio within 24 hours
The result returns Inter to first place, level on 22 points with Lazio, who had moved to the summit on Saturday with the 2-1 win over Parma that Beyond The Final Whistle covered in its report on Lazio going top. Inter's answer arrived less than a day later, and in the most dramatic way imaginable: seven wins and a draw from eight, still unbeaten, and now ahead of Lazio on goal difference.
Serie A's early title race is shaping into a genuine contest — Saturday's wild Napoli 3-3 Roma draw showed how little separates the contenders — while Juventus and AC Milan are still to play later on Sunday. For Fiorentina, the cruelty is total: a performance that deserved at least a point brings nothing, their winless run stretches on, and they remain stuck in 18th, deep in early-season trouble.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this is what champions do. Inter were not at their best, their goalkeeper was a debutant, the opposition keeper was inspired and the equaliser took 91 minutes — and they still found a way, because Thuram refused to accept the script. Wins like this are worth more than the three points; they tell every rival watching that this team does not believe it can be beaten. Was Zielinski's 98th-minute penalty the moment Inter's season truly caught fire — or did Fiorentina simply throw away the result of their season?
