You need to play for more than 16 minutes to bring Inter Milan to their knees. That's the lesson Udinese learned today – unfortunately for them, the hard way.The Little Zebras opened the clash at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza superbly, taking a 2-0 lead after just over a quarter of an hour through James Abankwah and Jurgen Ekkelenkamp – and then simply stopped playing. The Nerazzurri are way too powerful, experienced, and star-studded to give up that early in a game.Hero at full-time, trouble by sunrise: Maldini's son had a nightmare nightAlthough not at their best, Cristian Chivu's men kept grinding, and it paid off sooner than anyone expected, as they wiped out Udinese's lead by the 35th minute thanks to goals from Carlos Augusto and Nicolo Barella.Buoyed by the comeback, the Nerazzurri continued to pile the pressure on Udinese and eventually took the lead during a 10-minute blitz, with Marcus Thuram and Francesco Pio Esposito finding the net in the 57th and 67th minutes respectively – a double blow from which the visitors couldn't recover.The icing on the cake came in the 79th minute, when Ange-Yoan Bonny put his name on the scoresheet as well, while Udinese’s Senegalese Idrissa Gueye sealed the final score at 5-3 in stoppage time.INSANE Monday Night Football in Serie A 🤯🇮🇹Udinese went 2-0 up after just 16 minutes…Then Inter scored FIVE 😳• 9’ Inter 0-1 Udinese• 16’ Inter 0-2 Udinese• 26’ Inter 1-2 Udinese• 35’ Inter 2-2 Udinese• 57’ Inter 3-2 Udinese• 67’ Inter 4-2 Udinese• 79’ Inter… pic.twitter.com/FwV3pqVLjk— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) September 14, 2026 The packed Stadio Giuseppe Meazza was stunned after Udinese took a 2-0 lead in the opening quarter of an hour!Thanks to a seven-minute blitz, the visitors built a comfortable lead through James Abankwah and Jurgen Ekkelenkamp's goals, capitalising on some poor defending from Inter, who were obviously still feeling the effects of their Champions League clash against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu last Tuesday.The Little Zebras surprised even themselves and then decided to sit back and protect their lead, which proved costly as they simply couldn't hold on.Instead, they allowed the Nerazzurri to wake up and launch a blitz on their own, levelling the score through Carlos Augusto's 26th-minute screamer and Nicolo Barella's 35th-minute strike.If anyone had offered Udinese a level score at the break, they would undoubtedly have accepted it. However, having squandered a two-goal lead, the visitors could hardly be satisfied with the scoreline.Capital crew has no mercy: Malen strikes again as perfect Roma seize Serie A summitRiding the momentum from their impressive finish to the first half, Inter established dominance since the beginning of the second period, and if it hadn't been for the visitors goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, the Milan giants would have quickly completed a comeback. However, the Nigerian's saves kept the Little Zebras alive for some time and postponed their fall until the 57th minute.Twelve minutes into the second half, there was no escape for Udinese, as the two Frenchmen made their defence collapse. Andy Diouf made a superb solo run over the right flank, found Marcus Thuram inside the box, and the striker made no mistake – 3-2.19.00: (1.60) Genoa (3.70) Sudtirol (5.40)When Francesco Pio Esposito made it 4-2 just 10 minutes later after a fantastic action, it was clear that the whole spoils would stay in Milan and that Inter would join Roma at the top of the Serie A table with a perfect record.The final touch came in the 79th minute, when Ange-Yoan Bonny made it 5-2 and completed the Nerazzurri's thumping win, that seemed very unlikely after the opening 16 minutes of the game. In stoppage-time, Udinese managed to pull one back through Idrissa Gueye, as the Senegalese set the final score – 5-3.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 4FridayVenezia – Fiorentina 2-4 (1-2)/Adams 22, Hainaut 86 – Mastantuono 29,30,84, Pellegrino 66/SaturdayGenoa – Frosinone 1-1 (0-1)/Vasquez 50 – Kvernadze 14/Lazio – Milan 2-2 (2-0)/Cancellieri 10, Noslin 39 – Moreira 65, 67/Atalanta – Cagliari 1-2 (1-1)/Scamacca 41 – Mendy 19, Maldini 61 pen/SundayLecce – Monza 3-2 (3-1)/Coulibaly 3, 21, Gabriel 10 – Mangas 20, Zeballos 89/Napoli – Bologna 1-0 (0-0)/Lobotka 66/Sassuolo – Juventus 3-2 (0-0)/Esposito 65, Bowie 89, Adzic 90+4 – Zhegrova 82, 90+1/MondayComo – Parma 2-1 (1-0)/Ramon 23, Kaiki 83 – Romero 90+2/Torino – Roma 0-2 (0-1)/Malen 40, Pisilli 90+3/Inter – Udinese 5-3 (2-2)/Augusto 26, Barella 35, Thuram 57, Esposito 67, Bonny 79 – Abankwah 9, Ekkelenkamp 16, Gueye 90+1/
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