Inter produced another remarkable comeback in Serie A, recovering from a two-goal deficit to defeat Udinese 5-3 in a chaotic eight-goal contest at San Siro.
The Nerazzurri had already overturned a 2-0 scoreline against Napoli to win 3-2 earlier in the league campaign, but their Champions League opener ended in a 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid after several costly individual errors.
Cristian Chivu made changes to his lineup, handing John Stones his first start while resting Lautaro Martinez, Yann Bisseck, and Hakan Calhanoglu. Federico Dimarco was not fully fit, Djed Spence was injured, and Udinese arrived with a lengthy list of absentees.
Inter fall two goals behind Udinese
Udinese stunned Inter by taking the lead from a corner routine. Unai Gomez delivered a cross from the right after the corner was played short, allowing James Abankwah to head into the top corner from seven yards for his first Serie A goal.
Inter almost responded through Marcus Thuram, who met a Nicolò Barella pass over the top, but Maduka Okoye stopped both his header and the follow-up from close range.
The hosts were slow to react when Udinese doubled their advantage. Keinan Davis broke down the left before rolling the ball across the area, where Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was left unmarked to score from close range.
Thuram appealed for a penalty after a tussle with Christian Kabasele, but the referee rejected the claims. Inter-assistant manager Aleksandar Kolarov was subsequently sent off from the touchline for dissent.
Inter completes another Serie A comeback
Inter finally reduced the deficit when Carlos Augusto unleashed a powerful left-footed effort from 20 yards into the far bottom corner. It came only days after he had scored against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
The comeback was completed in less than 10 minutes. Hassane Kamara lost possession in midfield, and Barella initially stumbled after receiving Thuram’s lay-off, but he recovered to fire an angled shot into the net.
Barella almost put Inter ahead before the interval, only for Okoye to produce an acrobatic save and tip his effort over the crossbar. Henrikh Mkhitaryan then saw his shot blocked from the resulting corner.
After the restart, Okoye again denied Mkhitaryan, this time making an excellent stop at his near post from 10 yards. Udinese were soon punished when Andy Diouf ran onto another Barella pass over the top and pulled the ball back from the by-line for Thuram to finish first time from eight yards.
For the second consecutive Serie A match, Inter had transformed a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
Inter adds two more before Udinese responds
John Stones was chasing Davis when he suffered an injury and had to leave the field. Inter then extended their advantage through a flowing passing move involving Curtis Jones and Piotr Zielinski, who combined to set up Francesco Pio Esposito for a low finish from 12 yards.
Dimarco returned from the knee injury that had kept him out of the Madrid trip and played a part in Inter’s fifth goal. He combined with Esposito and Diouf in a team move that sent Ange-Yoan Bonny through. Okoye saved the first attempt, but Bonny converted the rebound.
Aleksandar Stankovic nearly made it six when his free-kick took a deflection through the wall and clipped the outside of the post.
Udinese managed to score once more in stoppage time. Sandi Lovric’s cross was brought down by Vakoun Bayo, allowing Idrissa Gueye to slide in at the far post and make it 5-3.