Inter wins the Italian Cup - Binh Duong Online Newspaper

After defeating Fiorentina 2-1 in the final thanks to a brace from Lautaro Martinez, Inter won the Italian Cup for the second consecutive time.

Despite conceding an early goal, Inter still demonstrated the character of a team that reached the 2023 Champions League final. Striker Lautaro Martinez shone with a brace, helping his team come from behind to win 2-1 in the final on May 24th. Inter won the Italian Cup for the ninth time, equaling the record of AS Roma and second only to Juventus.

Forward Lautaro Martinez celebrates a goal after Inter's 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in the Italian Cup final at the Olimpico stadium in Rome on May 24, 2023.

Inter and Fiorentina are the two Italian football representatives playing in two finals this season, and this is also their first match. Fiorentina will face West Ham in the Conference League final on June 7th, while Inter will play Man City in the Champions League final three days later.

At the Olimpico stadium in Rome, both teams fielded their strongest possible lineups to win the Italian Cup final, although coach Simone Inzaghi used veteran goalkeeper Samir Handanovic instead of Andre Onana. This decision was surprising, as Onana is currently Inter's number one goalkeeper, while Handanovic is past his prime.

Fiorentina opened the scoring in the third minute from a counter-attack. Left midfielder Jonathan Ikone passed the ball through the legs of an Inter defender to the far post for Nicolas Gonzalez to tap in from close range, the ball deflecting off Handanovic and into the net. Vincenzo Italiano's side had a dream start to the season, reaching both finals.

However, Inter, with their superior strength, quickly took the lead thanks to a brace from Lautaro Martinez. In the 29th minute, midfielder Marcelo Brozovic received the ball in the center and had ample time to thread a pass to Martinez, who raced into the penalty area and fired a low shot into the far corner to equalize. The 1.95m tall center-back Nikola Milenkovic was positioned too deep and failed to execute Fiorentina's offside trap in this situation, allowing Martinez to score Inter's 100th goal.

The second goal conceded was less to blame on Fiorentina's defense, as Inter's attack was more effective. From Nicolo Barella's cross, Martinez pounced like lightning to volley from close range, beating goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano for the second time.

Fiorentina missed two good opportunities to take the game into extra time, when striker Luka Jovic headed wide from a favorable position, and then Arthur Cabral's shot was cleared off the line by Matteo Darmian.

Fiorentina will have to focus all their efforts on the remaining match against West Ham, as they no longer have any objectives in Serie A. Inter, on the other hand, still need more points to secure a place in the Top 4 before a week's break for the biggest club game of the season.

According to VNE

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