Champions Inter produce another stirring comeback to win eight-goal thriller

[p]With a 13-game unbeaten run in Serie A spanning back to last season, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/inter/Iw7eKK25/"]Inter[/a] were certainly the heavy favourites heading into this match, but the Friulani stunned the home crowd into silence by taking an early lead.[/p][p][b]An excellent delivery from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gomez-unai/b9174gL1/"]Unai Gomez[/a] was met by the head of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/abankwah-james/QgfEnOwH/"]James Abankwah[/a] inside the box, and his effort found the back of the net to secure his first-ever goal for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/udinese/rXw8YKDE/"]Udinese[/a]. [/b][/p][image alt="James Abankwah celebrates his opener" id="f1caa8f3-9a19-49ee-b350-f2f672bdaf49" credit-line="Fabrizio Carabelli / Zuma Press / Profimedia" guid="408784de-4571-42f6-abed-0c07b4d8b5e2" original-width="1400" original-height="933" /][p]The defending Serie A champions came extremely close to equalising with their first significant foray forward, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/okoye-maduks/Gr6T6rIt/"]Maduka Okoye[/a] produced an outstanding double save to deny [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thuram-marcus/hMMX02Fm/"]Marcus Thuram[/a].[/p][p][b]But just as it looked like Inter were getting to grips with the game, the visitors shocked Cristian Chivu’s side with a second goal after only 16 minutes, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/davis-keinan/SKxz4XFS/"]Keinan Davis[/a]’ smart pass was poked home from close-range by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ekkelenkamp-jurgen/4W6Geckd/"]Jurgen Ekkelenkamp[/a]. [/b][/p][p]At this stage, it felt like Inter were going to need to create something very special to burst Udinese’s bubble.[/p][p][b]And that’s exactly what happened after 26 minutes, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/augusto-carlos/QZQkZOWj/"]Carlos Augusto[/a] drilled a rocket of a shot into the bottom corner from distance to halve the deficit in sensational style. [/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="847e1330-913e-4736-824b-92112e14542e" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="c46df3a5-6ee6-48a3-9c5e-f8e273ae5f98" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]The breathless nature of the first half continued past the half-hour mark, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barella-nicolo/W0yrjzz2/"]Nicolo Barella[/a] smashed the ball past Okoye from inside the box to level the game before the interval and send the crowd wild.[/b][/p][p]The second half began in lively fashion, with Okoye needing to pull off an excellent save at his near post to prevent [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mkhitaryan-henrikh/KKi1DwHC/"]Henrikh Mkhitaryan[/a] from giving the Nerazzurri the lead for the first time in the match.[/p][p][b]Inter’s intense pressure straight after the restart was soon rewarded, though, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diouf-andy/IiBJCs82/"]Andy Diouf[/a] teed up Thuram perfectly on the counter, and the France international duly slotted the ball into the bottom corner from 12 yards to edge the hosts in front.[/b][/p][image alt="Thuram celebrates his goal" id="89abb395-bda7-4a54-9389-b22ad3225be3" credit-line="Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP / AFP / Profimedia" guid="72b2fefa-16bb-4557-b50b-601c97d3feeb" original-width="1400" original-height="933" /][p][b]Inter were now in full flow and extended their lead midway through the second half thanks to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/esposito-francesco/dKXxEOKj/"]Pio Esposito[/a]’s composed close-range strike after being set up by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zielinski-piotr/dlFNZSvb/"]Piotr Zielinski[/a]. [/b][/p][p]Esposito’s second league goal of the season appeared to completely deflate their opponents, and it quickly got even worse for Kosta Runjaic’s outfit.[/p][p][b]With just over 10 minutes to go, substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bonny-ange-yoan/08MpRWg8/"]Ange-Yoan Bonny[/a] saw his initial shot saved before slamming home the rebound to kill the game off completely and claim all three points.[/b][/p][embed guid="f8fd8931-83cb-42b7-a70a-275df7eae59c" url="https://x.com/SerieA_EN/status/2099596042433859741" social-type="twitter" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gueye-idrissa/KfISm8Cd/"]Idrissa Gueye[/a] grabbed a goal back for the visitors at the start of stoppage time, but it proved to be no more than a consolation.[/b][/p][p]Following this result, Inter are up to second position behind only early pacesetters [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/as-roma/zVqqL0ma/"]AS Roma[/a], who they will face on Saturday in a mouthwatering Serie A clash.[/p][p]Meanwhile, Udinese remain 13th with four points from their opening four league games and will aim to return to winning ways this weekend when they host [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cagliari/SCGVmKHb/"]Cagliari[/a].[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thuram-marcus/hMMX02Fm/"]Marcus Thuram[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/inter/Iw7eKK25/"]Inter Milan[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/inter-Iw7eKK25/udinese-rXw8YKDE/?mid=nBSIVLy2"]See all the stats from the match here[/a][/b][/p]