Fiorentina end Inter Milan's unbeaten start to Serie A
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fiorentina's Croatian forward Nikola Kalinic celebrates after scoring a goal during the Serie A football match between Inter Milan and Fiorentina at the San Siro Stadium in Milan on September 27, 2015 . AFP PHOTO / GIUSEPPE CACACE (Photo credit should read GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images)
Nikola Kalinic scored a hat-trick as Fiorentina thumped 10-man Inter Milan 4-1 on Sunday to join the Nerazzurri at the top of the Serie A standings.
Inter went into the contest at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium with five wins in as many league games but they trailed 3-0 after just 23 minutes.
Kalinic won a penalty, converted by Josip Ilicic, and had made it 3-0 before Inter defender Miranda was sent off in the 31st minute for bringing him down and denying a goalscoring opportunity.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mauro Icardi reduced the deficit on the hour but Kalinic had the final word with 14 minutes to go.
Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic endured a disappointing night for Inter, guilty of giving away the penalty and then failing to hold Ilicic's long-range effort to hand Kalinic an easy finish for the second.
The bad news began for Inter during the warm-up, when top scorer Stefan Jovetic had to withdraw with an injury.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Things then got worse as Handanovic failed to control Gary Medel's back-pass and Kalinic stole the ball before being brought down by the Inter keeper in the area.
Handanovic guessed the direction of the spot-kick correctly but could not get a touch on Ilicic's left-footed shot inside the far post.
The visitors doubled their lead in the 18th minute when the goalkeeper could only push Ilicic's powerful shot into the path of Kalinic.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Inter, who had only conceded one goal in their opening five games, were 3-0 down five minutes later.
Marcos Alonso's cross found Kalinic in the box and his right-footed shot towards the far post beat Handanovic.
Miranda was then given his marching orders and Inter went into the break facing an uphill battle.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fiorentina dominated possession after the re-start but Inter found the net against the run of play.
Icardi's header from Alex Telles' free-kick rebounded off the left-post and the Argentinian made no mistake, driving home the rebound.
But any faint hopes of an Inter comeback where effectively killed by Kalinic when he scored his third goal.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ilicic set up Kalinic in the heart of the area and the Croatian striker drilled a right-footed shot past a helpless Handanovic.
The win, Fiorentina's fifth of the campaign, has lifted the Viola to the top of the standings, level with Inter on 15 points.