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Inter fought back from two goals down to beat Udinese 5-3 on Monday, maintaining their perfect Serie A start alongside Roma, who won 2-0 at Torino before Saturday’s match between the joint leaders. Both sides have 12 points from four matches and share top spot before their encounter 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 Nicolò Barella levelled 10 minutes before half-time.
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.
There was an injury concern for Inter as John Stones limped off with an apparent hamstring injury just after the hour mark. The England centre-back was making his first start after joining on a free transfer this summer.
The Inter manager, Cristian Chivu, confirmed Stones would have to be fully assessed to determine the extent of the issue. “I don’t know, I haven’t had a chance to talk to him,” Chivu told Dazn. “I think he felt something on his flexor [muscle], and he will probably need to get some tests done.”
Roma made it four wins from four thanks to goals from Donyell Malen and Niccolò Pisilli at Torino. Malen broke the deadlock five minutes before the interval after pouncing on a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Lucas Perri that had been 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.
The 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.
Como followed up their winning Champions League debut against RB Leipzig with a 2-1 home win over Parma, with Jacobo Ramón and Kaiki Bruno scoring for Cesc Fàbregas’s side. “This is an important victory for me as a coach, because I am starting to realise what team we could become,” Fàbregas said.
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Meanwhile in Spain, Real Betis secured a 2-1 win at Villarreal to move third in La Liga and leave their opponents in the relegation zone. Goals from Cucho Hernández and Natan helped Betis claim three points and pull level with Real Madrid, after Gerard Moreno opened the scoring for the home side.
“Right now everything’s going against us, teams are punishing us,” Moreno told Movistar. “We have to stick together and demand more of ourselves … maybe when we go behind, anxiety kicks in and it’s more difficult. It’s hard to explain [how few] points we have... we have to be a team now more than ever.”
