Pre-match

Cesare Prandelli had to swap his XI quite a bit with Gaetano Castrovilli, Franck Ribery, Nikola Milenković, and Martín Cáceres all injured or suspended. That meant Lucas Martínez Quarta, Borja Valero, Lorenzo Venuti, and Valentin Eysseric (!) all started. Antonio Conte opted for Alexis Sánchez over Lautaro Martínez but otherwise sent out his best XI.

First half

After Inter Milan worked a short corner, Nicolò Barella had way too much time to line up this shot. Once he hit it, it was way too late: it was a perfect hit that left Bartłomiej Drągowski no chance at all. What a shot.

Second half

Sánchez measured a pass through for Achraf Hakimi, who simply sped past Igor and squared across the box for Ivan Perišić to tap into an empty net. It was pretty bad defense all around, but holy smokes is Hakimi fast.

Full time

Goals: Barella 31’ (ass. Sánchez), Perišić 52’ (ass. Hakimi)

Cards: Amrabat 61’, Martínez Quarta 75’, Pulgar 81’; Perišić 42’

What’s next

Fiorentina drop to 12th with 22 points, trailing Benevento (who host Sampdoria on Sunday) on goal difference. Udinese, Genoa, and Bologna could also all leapfrog them with good results this weekend. The Viola also get Samp next weekend and should have Castrovilli back, although Milenković and now Amrabat will be suspended; we’ll have to wait and see on the status of Ribery and Cáceres. Inter Milan, meanwhile, go top of the table for now, although AC Milan can retake that spot with a win over Crotone.