Inter – Fiorentina 0-1, March 1

Fiorentina has scored yet another important victory for the second time in one week. This past Sunday, March 1, Florence’s La Viola scored a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan which quickly followed their even more important 2-0 victory on Thursday evening against Tottenham in the Europa League. In a long and busy weekend, Fiorentina has both advanced themselves into the Round of 16 in the Europa League, and moved upwards in the Serie A standings – just one point behind current holders of fourth position, Lazio.

The gains of Thursday and Sunday evenings had come as a result of the Fiorentina acquisition of Mohamed Salah, the young 22-year-old Egyptian traded to Fiorentina by the United Kingdom team Chelsea in exchange for Juan Cuadrado. Salah scored the second and final goal in the Europa League match versus Tottenham, as well as the only goal in the Serie A match against Inter Milan on Sunday. Football fans of Florence have been saying the same words all week: Chelsea got the shorter end of the stick in the player swap, and also that Salah could be the savior Fiorentina needed to finish the Serie A season with forza – possibly in position three to enter Champion’s League for the 2015/2016 season.

Initially, Sunday night matchup seemed weak, the first half saw no goals, and both teams lacked the ferocity to consistently put pressure on the other’s goal. Just minutes, however, before the half-time mark, Salah was substituted in and along with him, the hope of a prospective victory.. In minute 56, Salah capitalized on an error of the Inter Milan goalie when he failed to catch a kick and instead allowed it to roll right into the feet of a charging Salah.  Instantly, the Viola player powerfully launched the ball into the back of the net and Fiorentina took the lead that would remain for the remainder of the match.

The heat of the match did not end here though. In the second half, Nenad Tomovic tripped and fell as an Inter Milan player was close behind. Tomovic hit the ground while the trailing player attempted, and failed, to jump over him, kicking Tomovic’s head instead. Tomovic suffered a cranial trauma according to the twitter of Fiorentina. With Tomovic being carried off the pitch on a stretcher, Fiorentina was put in the difficult position of having to finish the match with 10 players versus Inter’s 11. The Inter offense intensified as possession of the ball noticeably remained with them instead of Fiorentina. Fiorentina maintained a strong defense however, but La Viola was yet again hit with another stroke of bad luck when Stefan Savic also had to be carried off after suffering debilitating muscle pains.

The remaining minutes of regular time and six added minutes of stoppage time played out dramatically as Fiorentina scrambled and struggled to maintain their lead over Inter Milan with just nine players playing against 11. With what seemed like another attempt every minute, Inter Milan relentlessly strived to equalize the match, but could not put a ball past Fiorentina goalie Norberto Neto. With the help of the whole team, the Fiorentina defenders managed to repeatedly launch the ball back past the half-way line and survive six minutes of stoppage time. The victorious Fiorentina team again rallied and triumphed on the pitch around Salah for the second time in a week.

Florence’s beloved team, Fiorentina, will next play a match for the Coppa Italia Championship this Thursday, March 5, at 8:45 pm against their bitter and esteemed rival, Juventus. For more Serie A La Viola excitement, Fiorentina is scheduled to play Lazio on Monday, March 9, at 7 pm in a match that could allow Fiorentina to enter in the top four in Italy’s Serie A league. The next match night for Europa League is Thursday, March 12, and Fiorentina can be seen going head-to-head against AS Roma at 9:05 pm.  (jacob mccarthy)