Inter held to 1-1 draw at Fiorentina as title race comes alive

FLORENCE, Italy, March 22 : Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 draw at Fiorentina on Sunday as the hosts' Cher Ndour scored a second-half equaliser to cancel out Francesco Pio Esposito’s first-minute opener and dent the visitors' Serie A title charge.

Following AC Milan’s 3-2 victory over Torino on Saturday, the result in Florence trimmed Inter’s lead at the summit to six points, leaving the leaders on 69 points with eight matches remaining and offering fresh hope to their city rivals.

"We knew the three points were crucial for us, and Fiorentina deserve credit, but we didn't play our best game, and it's not our best moment. But it's all in our hands," said Inter assistant coach Aleksandar Kolarov.

“They (Fiorentina) have been on good form recently, so I see a point here as relatively positive," he added, stepping in for suspended manager Cristian Chivu.

INSTANT INTER GOAL

Inter needed 39 seconds to make their intent clear, capitalising on a botched clearance that allowed Nicolo Barella to whip in a cross from the byline for Esposito to head home from close range.

Both sides traded chances in an open first half and each had a strike ruled out for offside before the interval. Barella was denied for the visitors, as was Fiorentina’s Moise Kean, who also had several other opportunities to level the score that went begging before the break.

While the second half lacked fluency, Fiorentina grew increasingly dominant, with Kean acting as the primary engine for the hosts.

Fiorentina’s second-half persistence finally told 13 minutes from time when Inter keeper Yann Sommer could only parry Albert Gudmundsson’s low drive into the path of an unmarked Ndour, who tapped home the equaliser.

Buoyed by a vocal home crowd and sensing an upset,