Martinez strikes twice as Inter beats Fiorentina in stoppage-time thriller

Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez set up the opening goal and scored two of his own as his side beat Fiorentina 4-3 in a thrilling Serie A game on Saturday

Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan scores goal during the Serie A match against Fiorentina. | Photo Credit: AP

Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez set up the opening goal and scored two of his own as his side beat Fiorentina 4-3 in a thrilling Serie A game on Saturday.

Inter opened the scoring after two minutes when Argentine Martinez’s perfectly-timed through ball sent Nicolo Barella clear on goal and the midfielder had no problem putting the ball into the lower left corner.

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.

“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.”

Tempers flared in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Four yellow cards were given out when the referee whistled for halftime, including one for Inzaghi for dissent.

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.

“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.

Five minutes into stoppage time, Henrikh Mkhitaryan secured the win for the visitors when he scored from a failed clearance by defender Lorenzo Venuti.

Inter is now unbeaten in their last 11 Serie A meetings with Fiorentina.

Inter, seventh on 21 points, is now five points behind league leaders Napoli with one game more played. Fiorentina is 13th with 10 points.