Fiorentina crushes 10-man Inter 4-1 to move top of Serie A

The Florence club now leads the standings for the first time since 1999.

The luckless Handanovic was involved again for Fiorentina’s second, this time doing superbly well to parry a thumping 25-yard drive from Ilicic, only to see the ball loop up and fall kindly for Kalinic who had the simple task of tapping in from nearly on the line.

Yohan Cabaye converted a second-half penalty for Palace after substitute striker Wilfried Zaha was brought down just inside the area.

Fiorentina extended their unbeaten run in Serie A to eight matches with a drought-breaking 1-0 win againstInter at San Siro on Sunday.

Fiorentina were gifted the ideal start when the referee pointed to the penalty spot after Handanovic impeded Kalinic in the area and Josip Ilicic stepped up to slam the ball into the roof of the net on four minutes.

Inter pulled one back when Icardi headed Alex Telles’ free kick onto the base of the left post and then tapped home the rebound.

Alberto Paloschi cancelled out Gregoire Defrel’s third minute strike, as Chievo played out to a 1-1 draw with Sassuolo on Sunday afternoon.

Lazio came from behind to secure a 2-1 win over Hellas Verona.

The former Fiorentina wonder kid couldn’t be blamed if he has some butterflies ahead of this match, but Jovetic will have to steady his nerves once the whistle blows. They were Perez’s third and fourth goals this season, leaving him only one behind league leaders Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“There are teams which have invested a lot, they have different aims to us, but I am not going to hold back and I continue to say that we can face anyone to win”.

Having failed to qualify for Europe this season, Mancini’s men are on a mission to make amends and look to have stolen a march on potential rivals like Roma and defending champions Juventus.

Mancini laughed off claims his defensive-minded side have been the most boring to watch in the Italian top flight. Gonzalez grabbed a consolation goal for the visitors in the 78th minute.

Jean-Michael Seri scored Nice’s other goal before teammates Nampalys Mendy and Maxime Le Marchand were dismissed in separate incidents.

Over the last three seasons, Inter and Fiorentina have shared three wins apiece.

Struggling Bologna remain in the relegation zone after slumping to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Udinese.

Viola’s last loss was against Torino, 1-3, at the Olimpico di Torino back in late August and had been on a roll ever since.