Inter Milan rally past Udinese to stay level with AS Roma at Serie A summit

Published
0
Inter Milan's Marcus Thuram (second R) scores against Udinese during their Serie A match at San Siro in Milan on September 14, 2026. —Reuters
Inter Milan's Marcus Thuram (second R) scores against Udinese during their Serie A match at San Siro in Milan on September 14, 2026. —Reuters

Inter Milan fought back from two goals down to beat Udinese 5-3 on Monday, maintaining their perfect Serie A start alongside AS Roma, who won 2-0 at Torino ahead of Saturday’s clash between the joint leaders.

Both sides have 12 points from four matches and share the top spot ahead of their showdown at the Stadio Olimpico, while Como are third on 10 points after beating Parma 2-1.

Udinese stunned Inter with two goals in the opening 16 minutes, as James Abankwah headed home unmarked after nine minutes before Jurgen Ekkelenkamp doubled the visitors’ lead with a close-range finish seven minutes later.

Inter hit back through Carlos Augusto, whose long-range effort flew into the bottom corner, before Nicolo Barella levelled 10 minutes before halftime.

The champions completed the turnaround in the 59th minute when Marcus Thuram netted from inside the box after Andy Diouf’s cutback from the byline. Francesco Esposito added a fourth and Ange-Yoan Bonny made it 5-2 with 11 minutes remaining.

Udinese pulled one back in stoppage time through Idrissa Gueye, but it proved no more than a consolation.

Roma keep it perfect

Roma made it four wins from four league matches with a 2-0 victory at Torino, thanks to goals from Donyell Malen and Niccolo Pisilli.

Malen broke the deadlock five minutes before the interval after pouncing on a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Lucas Perri, intercepted by Paulo Dybala.

Pisilli wrapped up the win in stoppage time, firing home from an angle after Gianluca Mancini kept the ball in play near the byline.

AS Roma’s Niccolo Pisilli (C) shoots to score against Torino during their Serie A match at the Olympic Stadium Grande Torino in Turin on September 14, 2026. —AFP
AS Roma’s Niccolo Pisilli (C) shoots to score against Torino during their Serie A match at the Olympic Stadium Grande Torino in Turin on September 14, 2026. —AFP

Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini praised the understanding between Malen and Dybala.

“Clearly, these are two players who are very talented individually, but they also complete each other as a pair. They combine beautifully to create goals in many games,” he told DAZN Italia.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s meeting with champions Inter, he added: “It is an opportunity for us to measure up against the best and show we can do better than in recent performances.”

Elsewhere on Monday, Como followed up their winning Champions League debut against RB Leipzig with a 2-1 home win over Parma in Serie A, with Jacobo Ramon and Kaiki Bruno scoring for Cesc Fabregas’s side.

“This is an important victory for me as a coach, because I am starting to realise what team we could become,” Fabregas said.

Opinion

Editorial

Cost of provinces
Updated 01 Nov, 2026

Cost of provinces

Political parties demanding new provinces must explain how they intend to pay for them and what improvements citizens can expect.
Exchange hack
01 Nov, 2026

Exchange hack

ON Thursday, the largest cryptocurrency heist in history saw some $6.3bn drained from exchange platform Binance’s...
Cyber safety
01 Nov, 2026

Cyber safety

WHILE the state’s proposal to create a Cybersecurity and Social Media Awareness Council envisages needed...
China green channel
Updated 31 Oct, 2026

China green channel

The green channel is a useful step, given Pakistan identifies which agricultural products it can export, meets Chinese quality standards, and builds dependable supply chains.
Excessive punishment
Updated 31 Oct, 2026

Excessive punishment

It is unfortunate to see her and her husband punished so harshly for acts that seem downright frivolous compared to the violence actual terrorists routinely perpetrate.
Forced conversions
31 Oct, 2026

Forced conversions

THE institutional bias against minority females leaves them to either be directly victimised or to live in ...