Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella has praised the efforts of his players after they held on to claim a 1-0 victory over Inter despite playing the end of the match with only nine men on the pitch.
The Viola saw both Nenad Tomovic and Stefan Savic stretchered off during the closing stages and were unable to replace them having already used all three of their substitutes. Despite their numerical disadvantage, however, the Tuscans were able to resist Inter’s bombardment to register their first win against the Nerazzurri at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza since 2000.
“We are very pleased as we played for long stretches at the same level as Inter and gained a positive result,” enthused Montella following the full time whistle.
“This group is united and everyone follows the same ideas. I believe that our success is well-deserved as we have worked so hard to create it. Inter created many opportunities at the end but we left with the victory because we had nine heroes such as [Juan] Vargas who had to play as a central defender.
“In the first half the game was balanced and I did not think we possessed the belief to win the match. I saw a team that was too content. However, in the second half things changed.
“Why did I overlook [Albert] Gilardino? It was a tactical choice to put on [Mohamed] Salah instead as I felt his great movement could exploit the opposition. In this case I felt a more technical player would give us an advantage. This takes nothing away from Gilardino, who is amongst the best players when playing in the box.
“[Roberto] Mancini? I always regard him with greatest respect. He was my role model as a player and even when I started coaching I always admired his style of coaching and how he behaved.”
Fiorentina’s victory move them to within touching distance of the third and final Champions League place which is currently occupied by Napoli.
