Martinez stars as Inter Milan edge Fiorentina in dramatic seven-goal thriller

Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi hailed his team’s never-say-die attitude after their dramatic 4-3 win over Fiorentina in Serie A on Saturday.

Inter opened the scoring after two minutes inside Stadio Artemio Franchi when Lautaro Martinez’s perfectly-timed through ball sent Nicolo Barella clear on goal and the midfielder slotted home into the lower left corner.

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Fiorentina recovered after the shock start and started to build up momentum, with Jonathan Ikone’s curled shot after 10 minutes going just wide.

Martinez doubled the lead after 15 minutes with a superb solo effort when he ran into the box, dribbled past defender Lucas Martinez Quarta and calmly sent the ball into the bottom corner.

Fiorentina reduced the deficit in the 33rd minute when Arthur Cabral converted a penalty before Ikone equalised for the home side with a beautifully curled shot into the top corner on the hour mark.

Martinez, who struggled to score earlier in the season, put Inter back into the lead from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute before Luka Jovic again levelled the scores in the 90th minute.

However, there was still time for another twist, and five minutes into stoppage time, Henrikh Mkhitaryan secured the win for the visitors when he scored from a failed clearance by defender Lorenzo Venuti.

“We were caught twice, the team never stopped believing,” Inter manager Simone Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.

“Our first 35 minutes up until the penalty were excellent, then we lost our shape a little, but those who came off the bench gave us a big hand. This was a very big signal we sent out tonight as Fiorentina are a tough side.”

Inzaghi reserved special praise for Martinez and insisted he was always confident the Argentine forward would find form in front of goal.

“I said when people asked about Lautaro Martinez not scoring in seven games that I was not worried, as he kept getting the chances and would break through eventually,” Inzaghi said.

Inter are now unbeaten in their last 11 Serie A meetings with Fiorentina and sit seventh in the Serie A table, five points behind league leaders Napoli, who have the opportunity to extend their lead at the top when they visit fourth-placed Roma on Sunday.

Fiorentina are 13th with 10 points.

Updated: October 23, 2022, 6:07 AM