By Anna Italia
                    FIORENTINA 0  -  2 FC INTER 
                                                                                          10' Luis Jimenez
                                                                                          45' Julio Cruz

SUBSTITUTIONS:  46' Kuzmanovic out, Jorgensen in        22' Olivier Dacourt out, Maxwell in
                                46'  Pazzini out, Christian Vieri in        73' Julio Cruz out, David Suazo in
                                59' Liverani out, Santana in                 82' Luis Jimenez out, Marco Materazzi in

Unfortunately, Fiorentina even with the return of Coach Cesare Prandelli to direct the match after the death of his wife Manuela, could not beat FC Inter at the Artemio Franchi.    Incredible, but true, Inter keeps flying up up and away. The match was preceded by a minute's silence in memory of Prandelli's wife Manuela. It was nice to see that not only Fiorentina fans welcome Prandelli, but also Inter fans.  A good sportmanship act from Inter.

Fiorentina failed the challenge. Before the match Fiorentina had 24 points and the goal was to get the 3 points to shorten the distance with Roma and Inter. To my surprise, and I am sure to Fiorentina fans too, Fiorentina could not score a single goal.  I was disappointed.  This victory takes Inter to 31 points followed by Roma with 28 points.
                        
In previous matches, forward Adrian Mutu had been a key player. Today, he just disappeared, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic took over.

                          

Anyway, Inter opened the score in the 10th minutes with "El Chileno Luis Jimenez" after a pass from the greater Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey could not stop the ball that hit an angled shot.  It was a moment of joy for Jimenez and a slap in the face to all Fiorentina fans.  Fiorentina 0 - 1 FC Inter.

Sure, as expected, Fiorentina reacted and showed determination to equalize the match. Problem was not converting opportunities of goal. Forward Pazzini failed to score after a pass from Mutu when Inter defender Christian Chivu cleared the danger.

                           

                                 Here is Ibrahimovic fighting a ball with Fiorentina defender Ujfalusi.

Between Mutu and Ibrahimovic, it was Ibrahimovic the one marking the difference.  What surprise! Just kidding, so used to see ABRACADABRA great performance almost in every match.  Imagine, he almost scored when Jimenez sends him a cross and with such determination he shoots a low right foot from the edge of the area. Here, goalkeeper Frey made a superb save followed by another great save from Maxwell.

     

In the 45th minute, another slap, forward Julio Cruz scores the second goal after an assist from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  Fiorentina 0 - 2 FC Inter.

In the second half, Fiorentina had their chances with former ex Inter bomber Christian Vieri. In teh 54th minute, Vieri sends a powerful shot but went wide.  It would have been a big boost for the morale of  Vieri and the team. Yet, it seems Inter now is unstoppable.  Wonder who will be the team to stop them?  Do you know who might be that team?

Here are the authors of the 2 goals "the South American team Chileno Luis Jimenez and Argentinian Julio Cruz."

                    

Inter would have scored 2 more goals with Ibrahimovic, but thanks God, Frey succeeded to stop his shots.

The great thing, as an Italian fan, was to see the return of Inter defender Marco Materazzi. Incredible, the great  Italian Defender celebrated his 200th  performance with Inter.  Great for Materazzi.

In my preview, I predicted FIORENTINA's victory. Well, I was wrong. They let me down.

Yet, I got only one part right: Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey did stop  Zlatan Ibrahimovic from scoring. 

At the end of the match, even Ibrahimovic admitted that he could not scored because Sebastien Frey stopped all his intents and that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the championship.

"It's true, I didn't score today. The only thing I didn't do was score, but Fiorentina have one of the best goalkeepers in the championship. He did very well and saved everything, but I'm still happy because we won and I produced two assists. I really like playing these kind of matches," said Ibrahimovic to Inter Channel.


LINEUPS

Italian Serie A Tim 2007 - 2008 Fourteenth Round Fixtures - Matchday 14
Sunday,  December 2,  2007
Fiorentina 0  -  2  FC Inter
Artemio Franchi Stadium
6:00 a.m. USA Pacific time

Scorers: 10' Luis Jimenez, 45' Julio Cruz

FIORENTINA

Goalkeeper: 1 Sebastien Frey;
Defenbers: 21 Ujfalusi, 5 Gamberini, 6 Potenza, 23 Pasqal, 
Midfielders: 22 Kuzmanovic (20 Jorgensen 46), 11 Liverani (24 Santana 59), 4 Donadel
Forwards: 7 Semioli, 29 Pazzini (32 Christian Vieri 46), 10 Adrian Mutu.

Subs not used : 12 Lupatelli, 3 Dainelli, 9 Osvaldo, 19 Gobbi,

Coach: Cesare Prandelli.

Inter

Goalkeeper: 12 Julio Cesar;
Defenders: 13 Maicon, 2 Ian Cordoba, 25 Walter Samuel, 26 Christian Chivu;
Midfielders: 4 Zanetti, 15 Dacourt (6 Maxwell 22), 19 Cambiasso; 11 Jimenez (23 Materazzi 82);
Forwards: 8 Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 9 Julio Cruz (29 Suazo 73).

Subs not used : 22 Orlandoni, 6 Maxwell, 16 Nicola Burdisso, 30 Pelé, 18 Hernan Crespo,

Coach: Roberto Mancini.

Referee: Stefano Farina (Novi Ligure).

Booked: Christia Chivu 32, Esteban Cambiasso 44, Maicon 64, Potenza 70.