Inter Milan restored their seven-point lead at the top of Serie A with a somewhat lucky win over Fiorentina at the San Siro.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a controversial goal in the 11th minute, but there was no doubt about his second deep into stoppage time which sealed the victory and took Inter back seven points clear of Juventus at the top of Serie A.
Inter once again had goalkeeper Julio Cesar to thank as he made a string of magnificent saves to deny the Viola, whose hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season were dented.
Julio Cesar made his first save on a busy night in the 10th minute following some good interplay from Alberto Gilardino and Adrian Mutu.
Christian Chivu's slip inside the centre circle allowed Gilardino to break and he passed the ball to Mutu, whose shot was stopped by the Inter goalkeeper's legs.
Inter went ahead in dubious fashion a minute later when Ibrahimovic headed in from close range.
The Sweden striker went in dangerously with a high boot on Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastian Frey as they both challenged for Mario Balotelli's free-kick and the ball bounced kindly off Frey into the air for Ibrahimovic to nod in unchallenged.
There was also a hint of offside about the goal, but it was still allowed to stand.
The sense of injustice perhaps fueled Fiorentina as they besieged the Inter goal but Julio Cesar stood firm to thwart the Viola's many advances.
He beat Gilardino in a one-on-one in the 14th minute before tipping an instinctive shot from the Fiorentina striker over the crossbar five minutes before the break.
Felipe Melo was also denied by the Inter number one while Frey was having a quiet night at the other end.
However, Dejan Stankovic did come close to doubling Inter's lead in the 27th minute after some excellent one-touch football set him up for a 20-yard shot which missed the post by inches.
Julio Cesar made another telling intervention to tip Riccardo Montolivo's shot over the crossbar in the 52nd minute before the next big chance fell to Mutu.
He overlooked Gilardino in the centre to fire his shot wide of the far post in the 63rd minute when a pass may have been the better option.
The one time Julio Cesar did make a mistake was in the 81st minute when he only parried Marco Donadel's shot, but Walter Samuel was there to cover and put the ball behind for a corner.
Fiorentina ran out of ideas and risked conceding a second in the last minute when Davide Santon played a one-two with Ibrahimovic to move into position to score, but he was denied his first goal in Serie A by Frey.
Ibrahimovic then ended all their hopes of equalizing four minutes into stoppage time with an unstoppable, venomous free-kick from over 25 yards out which cannoned in off the underside of the crossbar.
