Inter Milan overturn two-goal deficit to beat Udinese 5-3

Inter Milan came from two goals behind to defeat Udinese 5-3 at San Siro and preserve their perfect start to the Serie A season.

The champions have now extended their unbeaten league run to 13 matches, although Cristian Chivu’s team had to recover from a remarkable opening spell by the visitors before securing all three points.

Udinese stunned the home supporters by going 2-0 ahead inside the first 16 minutes. James Abankwah gave them the lead with his first goal for the club, heading in an excellent cross from Unai Gomez.

Inter almost responded straight away, but Maduka Okoye produced two outstanding saves to deny Marcus Thuram and protect Udinese’s advantage.

The visitors then struck again when Keinan Davis created the opportunity for Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, who converted from close range to leave Inter facing a significant deficit.

Carlos Augusto began the hosts’ recovery in the 26th minute with a superb long-range effort that flew into the bottom corner.

Inter continued to apply pressure and drew level before the interval. Nicolo Barella found space inside the penalty area and finished to make it 2-2.

The turnaround was completed 13 minutes after the restart. Andy Diouf sent Thuram through on the counter-attack, and the France international kept his composure to place his finish into the bottom corner from 12 yards.

With Udinese increasingly pinned back, Inter added a fourth goal midway through the second half. Piotr Zielinski supplied the chance for Pio Esposito, who calmly scored from close range for his second league goal of the season.

Inter then made certain of victory with just over 10 minutes remaining. Substitute Ange-Yoan Bonny saw his initial attempt saved by Okoye, but reacted quickest to score from the rebound and put the hosts 5-2 ahead.

Idrissa Gueye reduced the deficit for Udinese in stoppage time, but the visitors could not mount another recovery as Inter completed an extraordinary comeback.

The result lifted Inter into second place, behind early leaders Roma. The victory sets up an intriguing meeting between the two sides on Saturday.

Udinese remain 13th, with four points from their opening four matches. They will try to respond when they host Cagliari this weekend.