Simone Inzaghi is not a man who pulls any punches and he wasn’t going to start now. “It was a poor performance from start to finish,” he said after his Inter Milan were dismantled 3-0 by Fiorentina on Thursday night.

“We lacked intensity, determination, and the will to win. The second half was even worse. Ultimately, I’m the one who should be held accountable.”

Fiorentina and Inter had waited two months to resume the fixture, which was interrupted after 16 minutes on December 1 when Edoardo Bove collapsed on the Artemio Franchi turf.

Bove has since made a full recovery and watched from the sidelines, celebrating with his teammates as Luca Ranieri and Moise Kean sank the Nerazzurri, leaving them three points adrift of Serie A leaders Napoli and lifting Fiorentina up to fourth, five points behind Atalanta.

Four days after Stefan De Vrji’s 93rd minute equaliser rescued a point in the Derby della Madonnina, there was no late escape for the reigning Serie A champions.

Inter had started slowly against AC Milan and were sluggish out of the blocks here too, their midfield engine spluttering capriciously rather than going through the gears as it usually does.

So often the difference last season as the Beneamata marched to the Scudetto, Hakan Calhanoglu plays like a man still trying to regain match fitness after being sidelined for a month with a calf injury.

More of a concern for Inzaghi is that Nicolo Barella and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have been found wanting over the past two matches. Inter can afford to wait for Calhanoglu, but they can’t carry passengers in their midfield.

The lack of attacking zest was laid bare at the Franchi. Whereas the Nerazzurri rallied against Milan, laying siege to Mike Maignan’s goal in the second half, they barely fired a shot in anger in Florence.

Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram cut strangely forlorn figures up front as their team failed to register a shot on goal in Serie A for the first time since losing to Sassuolo last May.

Carlos Augusto’s disallowed goal halfway through the first half – the fourth goal Inter have had chalked off by VAR over the past two matches – was as good as it got for the visitors.

“Their attacking play was slow and predictable, and they failed to exploit the wings effectively,” was Fabio Capello’s scathing verdict in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday.

“It was a similar story to the derby. The team seems to have lost its rhythm.”

As Inzaghi correctly pointed out, this was only Inter’s second defeat in Serie A this season and it came after the Nerazzurri won 14 and drew three of their previous 17 matches in all competitions.

And yet such are the fine margins of the title race in Serie A this season that the defeat in Florence feels like a major fork in the road.

Napoli and Inter have set a relentless pace so far, but over the past two months a big caveat dominated the Scudetto conversation as the Nerazzurri had a game in hand over Antonio Conte’s men and could have arrived in Naples for a seismic showdown on March 2 top of the table.

That buffer has now disappeared, handing the Partenopei a slight but potentially crucial psychological advantage, particularly as they can focus solely on Serie A, while Inter are still fighting on three fronts.

“The margin is slim, but it’s a crucial difference,” Capello said. “Napoli now controls their own destiny in the Scudetto race.”

Napoli welcome Udinese on Sunday before facing Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico, with a potentially tricky trip to Como to come before they welcome the Nerazzurri, Fiorentina and Milan over the next four weeks.

Inter’s calendar is hardly for the faint-hearted either, with a rematch against Fiorentina on Monday night followed by a trip to Turin for the Derby d’Italia to come over the next 10 days, before a visit to Rome for the Coppa Italia quarter-final against Lazio.

As Inzaghi noted, with 15 matches still to play the Scudetto race should deliver yet more twists and turns.

“There’s no point in looking at the table right now,” he said. “Only hard work can help us recover from this defeat.”

His team better heed his advice.