Inter delivered yet another stunning fightback in Serie A, overturning a two-goal disadvantage to claim a 5-3 victory over Udinese in a wild eight-goal spectacle at San Siro.
The Nerazzurri had previously come from 2-0 down to beat Napoli 3-2 earlier in the season, but their Champions League campaign began with a 2-1 loss to Real Madrid following a number of costly individual mistakes.
Cristian Chivu shuffled his starting eleven, giving John Stones his first start while resting Lautaro Martinez, Yann Bisseck, and Hakan Calhanoglu. Federico Dimarco was not at full fitness, Djed Spence was sidelined through injury, and Udinese travelled with a long list of unavailable players.
Inter concede twice against Udinese
Udinese caught Inter off guard by opening the scoring from a corner routine. Unai Gomez whipped in a cross from the right after the set piece was taken short, and James Abankwah rose to head into the top corner from seven yards for his maiden Serie A goal.
Inter nearly hit back through Marcus Thuram, who latched onto a Nicolò Barella ball over the top, but Maduka Okoye saved both his header and the rebound from close range.
The home side were sluggish to respond as Udinese doubled their lead. Keinan Davis surged down the left before rolling the ball across the box, where Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was left completely free to convert from close range.
Thuram called for a penalty after a coming-together with Christian Kabasele, but the referee waved away the appeals. Inter assistant manager Aleksandar Kolarov was then dismissed from the touchline for protesting.
Inter complete another Serie A turnaround
Inter eventually pulled one back when Carlos Augusto struck a ferocious left-footed effort from 20 yards into the far bottom corner. It came just days after he had found the net against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
The equaliser arrived in under 10 minutes. Hassane Kamara gave the ball away in midfield, and Barella initially stumbled after collecting Thuram’s lay-off, but he regained his footing to drill an angled shot into the net.
Barella almost put Inter in front before half-time, only for Okoye to pull off an acrobatic save and tip his attempt over the bar. Henrikh Mkhitaryan then had his shot blocked from the resulting corner.
After the break, Okoye again denied Mkhitaryan, this time with an excellent stop at his near post from 10 yards. Udinese were soon made to pay when Andy Diouf ran onto another Barella pass over the top and pulled the ball back from the by-line for Thuram to convert first time from eight yards.
For the second Serie A fixture in a row, Inter had turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 advantage.
Inter add two more before Udinese reply
John Stones was tracking Davis when he picked up an injury and had to be withdrawn. Inter then increased their lead through a slick passing sequence involving Curtis Jones and Piotr Zielinski, who combined to tee up Francesco Pio Esposito for a low finish from 12 yards.
Dimarco returned from the knee problem that had ruled him out of the Madrid trip and contributed to Inter’s fifth goal. He linked with Esposito and Diouf in a team move that released Ange-Yoan Bonny. Okoye saved the initial attempt, but Bonny tucked away the rebound.
Aleksandar Stankovic nearly added a sixth when his free-kick deflected through the wall and grazed the outside of the post.
Udinese managed to pull one back in stoppage time. Sandi Lovric’s cross was controlled by Vakoun Bayo, allowing Idrissa Gueye to slide in at the far post and make it 5-3.