Internazionalevs
UdineseUdinese had the nerve to walk into San Siro and go two goals up inside 16 minutes. For a stretch, it looked like one of those evenings that resets the conversation around a title contender. Then Inter remembered who they were, and the whole thing unraveled for the visitors in spectacular fashion.
James Abankwah got the opener in the 9th minute, heading home from an Unai Gómez delivery to give Udinese something to believe in. Jurgen Ekkelenkamp doubled it in the 16th, finishing off a Keinan Davis pass, and suddenly the crowd at San Siro was quiet in a way it had no business being.
But Inter didn't panic. Carlos Augusto pulled one back in the 26th minute — no assist, just a goal that came at exactly the right moment to steady the ship. Nine minutes later, Nicolò Barella made it 2-2, converting a Marcus Thuram lay-off, and the match had turned completely. Cabal, that was the moment Udinese lost the plot.
Inter Take Over
The second half was a different game. Inter came out with 65.8 percent of the ball across the night, 27 shots, and a relentlessness that Udinese — who managed just six shots total — simply couldn't answer.
Marcus Thuram put Inter ahead for the first time in the 57th minute, finishing from an Andy Diouf pass. Ten minutes later, Pio Esposito made it 4-2 with Piotr Zielinski as the architect, and the match was effectively done. Ange-Yoan Bonny added a fifth in the 79th, and for a moment it looked like Inter might run away with something historic.
Udinese got one back in stoppage time through Idrissa Gueye, assisted by Bayo Youssouf — a consolation that made the scoreline look a touch more respectable but changed nothing about the story of the night.
The only real subplot to the cards: Keinan Davis picked up a yellow just before halftime, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan was booked in the 60th for Inter. Nothing that altered the game.
Our pre-match read made Internazionale the 79% favorite, and they left no doubt — even if the path there was messier than anyone expected.
Qué noche for Inter's attack. Five different scorers, Udinese's goalkeeper forced into seven saves, and a performance that will do plenty for Inter's confidence heading deeper into the Serie A campaign. The question now is whether the defensive vulnerability on display in that opening quarter-hour is a genuine concern or just a bad fifteen minutes that happened to be televised. Udinese converted five of their six shots on target — that's the number that will stick with Inter's backline. Giving up two quick goals at home and still winning 5-3 speaks to the quality going forward. Whether it says something worrying about the back end remains to be seen.
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