Milan (AFP) – Captain Mauro Icardi hit a brace as Inter Milan held on amid a stirring Fiorentina fightback to secure a precious 4-2 Serie A win at the San Siro.
Inter started life under new coach Stefano Pioli with a credible 2-2 draw with city rivals AC Milan last week.
And, despite a few shaky moments on Monday, the former Lazio handler won more plaudits for another solid display that closed the gap on leaders Juventus to 12 points.
Inter, rocked 4-1 at home by Fiorentina in the corresponding fixture last season, were 3-0 up after a series of defensive errors allowed Marcelo Brozovic, Antonio Candreva and Icardi to beat Ciprian Tatarusanu before the 20-minute mark.
Despite reducing arrears before the interval thanks to Nikola Kalinic, hopes of a fightback dipped when Fiorentina skipper Gonzalo Rodriguez was shown a straight red card for an arm-up foul on Icardi.
It took the visitors until the half hour to threaten, Josip Ilicic’s pacey, curling free kick forcing a great diving save from Samir Handanovic at his far post.
Federico Bernardeschi’s smart through ball then found Kalinic in behind the Inter defence, but the Croatian’s follow-up was tame.
Kalinic made amends moments later, pouncing on a cross from midfield and holding Danilo D’Ambrosio at bay before deftly beating Handanovic down low on 37 minutes.
It was his sixth goal of the campaign, all of which have come away from home, but when Rodriguez saw red for stopping an Icardi offensive with his forearm Fiorentina’s hopes dimmed.
Inter could have gone in with a 4-1 half-time lead, but Tatarusanu produced a great stop at his far post to thwart Ever Banega’s well-struck free kick.
Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa deployed a 3-4-2 designed to optimise their attacking chances after the restart, and Ilicic was the first to threaten with a drive on 52 minutes that tested Handanovic.
But Inter threatened through Banega, Icardi and then Perisic, who hit the post, in quick succession before Candreva forced Tatarusanu into a two-handed save.
Those misses returned to haunt Inter when Ilicic was allowed space on the left and beat Handanovic with a firm angled strike that bounced past the keeper at his far post on the hour.
Pioli replaced the creative Banega with defensive midfielder Felipe Melo, who earned a caution minutes later for a foul on Federico Chiesa after he had replaced Bernardeschi.
Mario should have put the result beyond reach eight minutes from the end, only to fire over from three metres out on a one-on-one with Tatarusanu.
Thankfully for Inter’s fans, the hosts’ three-man defence capitulated on a late Inter counter that saw Icardi fire past Tatarusanu after the ‘keeper had spilled a Perisic drive.
Earlier, Gregoire Defrel came off the bench to hit a sensational late leveller as Sassuolo dented Napoli’s Serie A title hopes in a 1-1 draw at the San Paolo.
A dominant Napoli looked on their way to a 1-0 win that would have moved them to within six points of Juventus after Lorenzo Insigne put the hosts ahead in the 42nd minute with a sensational strike.
But Sassuolo, who became the first Serie A side this season to field an all-Italian starting XI, had Frenchman Defrel to thank for a share of the spoils when he came off the bench to beat Pepe Reina with an equally impressive, 82nd-minute volley.
It left Napoli seventh, eight points off the pace.
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