By Goal.com News on Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Category: Goal.com News

LIVE: Fiorentina vs Inter

36' The home side have the chance to counter-attack but Castrovilli's final throughball towards Bonaventura lacks the quality, which allows Ranocchia to slide in, intercept and avert the danger.

35' From the resulting corner, Kouame smashes into Sanchez this time, instead of his own man, and manages to head a powerful clearance far down the left-hand side.

34' All of the joy for Conte's men is coming down the right-hand side. On this occasion, Young races away for the third time this half, before his cross from the byline gets turned behind for a corner by Quarta.

32' The Viola manage to clear Inter's corner, which came initially from Gagliardini's effort being deflected behind. However, play stops as it looks like Kouame has clattered into his own man, Biraghi, when the pair were attempting to clear the visitors' set-piece. The hosts' left-back then receives some quick medical attention before returning to the pitch.

30' Milenkovic is the next to slam into Martinez, leaving the Argentine clutching his leg in agony again. When the forward returns to his feet, Perisic dances one way then the other before sending a cross into the hands of Terracciano.

28' CLOSE! Young sends a low, inviting delivery across the six-yard area and Martinez looks set for a tap-in, however, Caceres and Terracciano somehow combine to knock the chance behind for a corner to the hosts.

25' Prandelli's side have kept a clean sheet in three of their last four matches, including one against reigning Serie A champions Juventus.

24' The visitors comfortably deal with Fiorentina's second corner of the game, as Young averts the danger with a hooked clearance down the left. Martinez gives chases to the loose ball but Amrabat is once again on hand, doing his defensive duties and playing backwards to Terracciano.

22' Kouame is forced to the floor by the challenge of Kolarov and the hosts appeal for a penalty. Referee Massa sees it differently and agrees with Conte's men, as he instead opts to award a goal-kick, which Handanovic launches down the pitch.

21' Martinez looks to have escaped the attentions of the Viola's midfield, only for Amrabat to intercept. However, the visitors regain possession and race down the other end, where Terracciano is then forced to parry away Young's low cross towards the near post.

20' In their last eight matches at the round of 16 stage of the Coppa Italia, the hosts have progressed on seven occasions. In the past 17 seasons, the Nerazzurri have only failed to make it to the quarter-finals once (in 2013/14 following a 1-0 defeat to Udinese).

18' Eriksen attempts to play the decisive throughball but Biraghi steps inside to intervene, with Young ready to pounce behind him. Conte's men then enjoy a prolonged spell of possession, which then ends as Vidal needlessly fouls Biraghi on the left-hand side.

16' The hosts' first corner of the game bounces all over the place before Sanchez takes control of the situation, bringing the ball down and advancing down the right-hand side, where Vidal then loses out to Julio. After a quick ball change, play resumes with a throw-in to the Viola.

14' Ranocchia sends an aimless pass forward, which trickles through to the feet of Terracciano. The hosts then look to work it down the right-hand side but the move lacks quality, allowing Inter to intercept and regain possession through Kolarov.

12' Eysseric needs to be careful here, he has already gone into the book and he has just clattered Gagliardini with a high foot near the halfway line. Luckily for the hosts, the referee gives the Fiorentina man the benefit of the doubt and just awards the visitors a free-kick, with no further punishment for the forward.

11' CHANCE! Vidal slides Martinez into the area and the Argentine looks to unleash a low right-footed effort before Castrovilli comes out of nowhere to produce a magnificent block, turning the chance behind for a corner to the visitors.

10' Milenkovic enjoys a rare venture forward and marks the occasion with a wild right-footed shot from the right of the area, which travels well wide of Handanovic's goal to the left.

8' Eriksen races towards the edge of the area, where his right-footed effort is blocked by the chest of Julio. The move then breaks down as Gagliardini handles the ball when attempting to recycle possession.

4' The front two of Martinez and Sanchez look to link-up inside the Viola's area, however, the latter is caught offside, gifting possession back to the hosts.

3' A chance falls to the feet of Martinez inside the D but the Argentine fails to control the ball and the opportunity escapes the visitors.

2' The early signs show that the visitors are also playing a three-man defence, with Kolarov slotting in as the third centre-back, while Perisic and Young occupy the wing-back roles.

1' Referee Davide Massa blows his whistle to get this Serie A fixture underway!

The players are making their way onto the pitch and shortly it will be time for kick-off.

Inter are unbeaten in their last eight games against Fiorentina in all competitions (W4, D4): the Viola’s last victory against the Nerazzurri came in April 2017, when they ran out 5-4 winners in Serie A.

Conte reverts to a four-man defence and makes seven changes from their game against Roma. The only four to remain in the starting eleven are Handanovic, Skriniar, Vidal and Martinez, who will be supported by the trio of Sanchez, Perisic and Eriksen here.

Cesare Prandelli makes six changes from the hosts’ victory against Cagliari. Cup goalkeeper Terracciano comes in and Quarta replaces the injured Pezzella at the back. Eysseric supports Kouame up top, with Patrick Cutrone having returned to Wolves after his loan spell.

SUBS: Achraf Hakimi, Marcelo Brozovic, Alessandro Bastoni, Romelu Lukaku, Stefan de Vrij, Nicola Barella, Daniele Padelli, Ionut Radu, Stefano Sensi.

INTER (4-2-3-1): Samir Handanovic; Ashley Young; Milan Skriniar, Andrea Ranocchia, Aleksandsar Kolarov; Roberto Gagliardini, Arturo Vidal; Christian Eriksen, Ivan Perisic, Alexis Sanchez; Lautaro Martinez.

SUBS: Antonio Barreca, Lorenzo Venuti, Joseph Alfred Duncan, Borja Valero, Dusan Vlahovic, Jose Callejon, Christian Dalle Mura, Dimo Krastev, German Pezzella, Tofol Montiel, Barlomiej Dragowski, Federico Brancolini.

FIORENTINA (3-5-2): Pietro Terracciano;  Nikola Milenkovic, Igor Julio, Lucas Martinez Quarta; Cristiano Biraghi, Martin Caceres, Giacomo Bonaventura, Gaetano Castrovilli, Sofyan Amrabat; Christian Kouame, Valentin Eysseric.

After crashing out of Europe, Antonio Conte may see the Coppa Italia as a perfect opportunity to gain his first silverware at Inter. The visitors, who are second in Serie A, most recently drew with Roma, while Fiorentina defeated Cagliari 1-0.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Coppa Italia round-of-16 tie between Fiorentina and Inter.

Original link
Leave Comments