Inter Turn the Tables on Fiorentina at the Death: Thuram Ignites, Zieliński Settles It

Serie A – Matchday 8 | Inter 2-1 Fiorentina | Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro), Milan – 25 October 2026

By Dr. Talal Othman, General Manager — GCC Sport

Some victories are earned with the feet; others are torn out with the nerves. Inter’s win over Fiorentina belonged firmly to the second kind. For ninety minutes they dominated, yet found themselves trailing a side sitting 18th in the table. What rescued them was not the performance but seven frantic minutes of stoppage time. The Nerazzurri took all three points and climbed back to the summit, level with Lazio. But the question hanging over this win is bigger than the scoreline: how long can Cristian Chivu’s side keep living on the edge of the abyss?

First Half: Control Without Conversion

Inter arrived buoyed by their midweek European win over Shakhtar Donetsk and imposed their rhythm from the opening minutes. They kept the ball, moved it and pressed, Nicolò Barella tried his luck from distance, and Marcus Thuram became Fiorentina’s constant headache. Yet David de Gea answered every call, shutting the door on wave after wave, and the half ended goalless against all the logic of the play.

Second Half: The Sucker Punch

The pattern held after the break. Thuram against De Gea again, and the Spaniard winning again. Then, on 65 minutes, came the moment that sums up football’s cruelty: a rare Fiorentina attack finished by Álex Jiménez, silencing San Siro. Three minutes later Thuram went down in the box, and referee Maurizio Mariani headed for the spot before reversing his decision at the last instant, fuelling the anger in the stands and deepening the hosts’ difficulties.

The Turning Point: Seven Minutes That Changed Everything

Chivu turned to his bench for attacking reinforcements, Piotr Zieliński among them, and Inter threw everything forward. In the 91st minute Thuram struck the equaliser and brought the stadium back to life. The Frenchman was not finished: in the dying seconds he won a penalty after a foul by Valdepeñas, and Zieliński stepped up with ice in his veins to convert in the 97th minute, completing the comeback.

Man of the Match: Marcus Thuram

Thuram was not merely a scorer here; he was the engine of the entire match. He forced De Gea into repeated saves, was at the centre of the overturned penalty call, then scored the equaliser and earned the decisive spot-kick. He is the striker who refuses to surrender when everyone else stops believing.

Numbers and What They Mean

  • This was Inter’s fifth comeback in eight league games, a figure that speaks to a resilient competitive character but also exposes a recurring fragility in starts and in holding their balance.
  • Inter move to 22 points, joint top with Lazio, and extend the gap over Roma.
  • Fiorentina remain 18th on 4 points, sinking deeper into the relegation zone. Collapsing in the closing moments raises serious questions for Paolo Vanoli about his side’s mental capacity to protect a lead.
  • De Gea’s brilliance was not enough, the familiar tragedy of a goalkeeper fighting alone behind a team that cannot defend what it earns.

Inter produced one of their best performances of the season and nearly lost it. That paradox is the heart of the story. A team that dominates without killing games needs a small miracle every time, and miracles do not sign long-term contracts. Inter won today on spirit, but titles are built on early ruthlessness, not late rescues. Fiorentina, meanwhile, leave San Siro with a harsh lesson: at the top level, the ninetieth minute is not the end, it is where the real examination begins.