Thuram and Zielinski turn San Siro despair into delight as Inter beat Fiorentina 2-1

MILAN — Inter Milan turned a lunchtime that was slipping away into one of the defining afternoons of the Serie A season, scoring twice in stoppage time to beat Fiorentina 2-1 at San Siro on Sunday. This is the result of the fixture previewed in the 2026-10-24 evening edition. What had been previewed as a meeting between unbeaten leaders-in-waiting and a side searching for only a second league win became, in the end, a story about nerve and the cruelty of the final minutes.

For 90 minutes, the script belonged to Fiorentina. For the seven minutes that followed, it belonged entirely to Marcus Thuram and Piotr Zielinski.

The visitors led through Álex Jiménez in the 65th minute, a long-range strike that flew into the top corner and left Inter chasing a game they had largely controlled. Inter had dominated the first half without finding a way past David de Gea, who produced a fingertip stop from a Francesco Pio Esposito header and reacted sharply to keep out an angled Thuram drive. After the break, De Gea parried another fierce Thuram effort over the bar, and still Fiorentina struck first.

Jiménez, set up by Nicolò Fagioli, caught debutant Inter goalkeeper Ivan Provedel by surprise with an audacious angled effort from distance. It changed the temperature of the stadium. San Siro, expecting a routine step back to the summit, suddenly faced the prospect of a first league defeat of the season for Cristian Chivu's side, while Fiorentina could see three points that would have transformed their early season.

Instead, the closing stages produced a collapse in reverse. Inter piled forward, Carlos Augusto glanced a header against the top of the bar and De Gea denied substitute Petar Sucic, but the breakthrough did not come until added time had begun. In the first minute of stoppage time, Thuram, fed by Andy Diouf after a slick move through the middle, guided a left-footed finish into the bottom corner. The ball rolled slowly into the net, but the effect was immediate: a point rescued, and a stadium reignited.

There was still time for more. Thuram, again the central figure, was held in the area by Víctor Valdepeñas, and referee Maurizio Mariani awarded a penalty. Zielinski, who had come on in the 78th minute, stepped up in the eighth minute of stoppage time and fired into the top corner, De Gea diving the right way but unable to reach it. From a goal down in the 90th minute to a win in the 98th, Inter had completed a turnaround that will be replayed all season.

The result moves Inter level on points with Lazio at the top of Serie A, both on 22 points from eight matches. On goal difference, Inter edge ahead, with 23 goals scored and 10 conceded against Lazio's 16 scored and five conceded, and both sides share records of seven wins and one draw. That is the table after this round's early Sunday game: Lazio had moved to the summit on Saturday with a 2-1 home win over Parma, and Inter's answer arrived less than 24 hours later, at the 12:30 CET kick-off, 15:30 in Tbilisi, on Sunday at San Siro.

For Chivu, the afternoon offered two lessons in one match. His side created the clearer chances, kept Fiorentina pinned back for much of the first half, and refused to accept a draw even after falling behind. Yet they also showed how thin the margin can be when a goalkeeper is in inspired form and a single moment of quality goes against you. Inter needed their two most decisive late interventions of the season to avoid dropping points at home to a team in the relegation zone, and the fact they found them says as much about their mentality as their quality.

Thuram's contribution deserves to be stated plainly. He scored the equaliser, he won the penalty, and he had been Inter's most persistent threat long before stoppage time. Zielinski's contribution was quieter until the decisive moment, and then absolute: one penalty, taken under the full pressure of a stadium expecting a winner, placed where even a goalkeeper moving the right way could not stop it. Together, they turned one point into three.

For Fiorentina, the defeat is painful precisely because so much of the plan worked. Manager Paolo Vanoli's side defended with discipline, frustrated Inter through a goalless first half, and then produced a moment of genuine quality to lead. De Gea's performance alone would have deserved a point, and for 25 minutes after Jiménez scored, the visitors looked capable of holding on. Instead, they leave Milan still on four points from eight matches, with one win, one draw and six defeats, in 18th place and still inside the relegation zone. Their winless run stretches to four league games, and the search for a second league win that framed the pre-match discussion continues.

At full time, the difference was seven minutes. Jiménez had given Fiorentina the lead. Thuram took it away. Zielinski finished the job. Inter are level at the top, Fiorentina are still searching, and a fixture previewed the night before delivered an ending nobody could have scripted in advance.