Inter leave it late to snatch top spot

ROME: Inter Milan scored twice in stoppage time to beat Fiorentina 2-1 and return to the top of Serie A on Sunday.

Alex Jimenez put struggling Fiorentina ahead at San Siro, but Marcus Thuram levelled in the 91st minute before winning a penalty, which Piotr Zielinski converted in the 98th minute.

The result lifted Inter to first place, level with fellow pace-setters Lazio on 22 points, while the Florence club's winless run stretched to four games, keeping them 18th.

Inter's fifth comeback win of the season saw them concede for the 10th time, but coach Cristian Chivu said he was unconcerned by their defensive issues.

"That's football: sometimes you concede," said Chivu.

"The important thing is not to let your heads drop and to maintain the same mentality. Ever since I arrived here, I've always said that games last 90 minutes.

"I don't want to see people feel sorry for themselves. I want to see players respond to setbacks."

Meanwhile, AC Milan maintained their unbeaten league start with a 2-0 win at Udinese to go fourth, bouncing back from a heavy Europa League defeat to Bournemouth.

"We need time to work on several things, but we don't have time sometimes even to address the problems we had in the last game," Milan coach Ruben Amorim said.

"We are learning in the games, with videos, in team meetings, because for three weeks we have barely had any training. I am proud of these lads, because they are paying attention to everything."

Meanwhile, Juventus claimed a 2-0 win over Lecce to climb into seventh place following a poor run of form.— AFP