Nigeria international goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has admitted that Inter Milan’s quality proved too much for Udinese after the visitors suffered a dramatic 5-3 defeat at San Siro in Monday’s Serie A encounter.
Udinese produced a stunning start against the Italian champions and appeared capable of causing a major upset after racing into a two-goal lead inside the opening 16 minutes.
However, Inter gradually took control of the contest, scoring five times to overturn the deficit before Udinese managed a late consolation goal.
The defeat ended Udinese’s hopes of securing a positive result from a match in which they had initially taken the home side by surprise.
Udinese opened the scoring in the ninth minute when James Abankwah rose unmarked to head the visitors in front following a delivery from the right.
The away side then doubled their advantage eight minutes later. Jurgen Ekkelenkamp finished from close range after a dangerous move down the left, putting Udinese 2-0 ahead at a stadium where Inter had been expected to control proceedings.
Inter responded almost immediately and began to put increasing pressure on Okoye and the Udinese defence.
Carlos Augusto reduced the deficit with a long-range strike before Nicolo Barella completed the comeback shortly before half-time, leaving the two teams level at 2-2 at the interval.
The momentum had completely shifted by the second half.
Inter continued to attack aggressively and eventually completed the turnaround in the 59th minute when Marcus Thuram found the net to put the hosts ahead for the first time.
The French forward finished from inside the box after a cutback from Andy Diouf, giving Inter a 3-2 advantage.
Udinese were unable to regain the momentum they had enjoyed during the opening stages, while Inter continued to threaten whenever they moved forward.
The hosts added a fourth through Francesco Pio Esposito before Ange-Yoan Bonny extended the lead to 5-2 with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.
Udinese continued to fight until the final whistle and eventually pulled another goal back in stoppage time through Idrissa Gueye, but it was not enough to prevent Inter from collecting all three points.
Reflecting on the result, Okoye acknowledged that playing Inter at San Siro was a difficult assignment, particularly because of the home side’s relentless attacking approach.
The Nigerian goalkeeper said Udinese also created opportunities but conceded that Inter’s overall quality eventually made the difference.
“It’s always difficult against Inter at San Siro. They play very attacking football and don’t stop even after scoring three or four goals. We also had our chances, but they are too strong,” Okoye said in comments published by Udinese.
The result also highlighted the contrasting momentum within the match.
Udinese had looked in complete control during the opening quarter of an hour, taking advantage of spaces in the Inter defence and punishing the hosts with quick attacking moves.
Once Inter found their first goal, however, the pattern changed significantly. The home side increased the pressure, controlled more of the attacking territory and repeatedly tested the Udinese backline.
Okoye and his defenders were forced to deal with sustained pressure as Inter searched for a winner after bringing the score back to 2-2.
For Udinese, the defeat will be particularly frustrating because of the manner in which their promising start disappeared.
They had scored twice before Inter found the net, but the champions responded with five goals of their own before Gueye’s late effort provided some consolation.
The victory maintained Inter’s perfect start to the Serie A season. Inter moved to 12 points from four matches, level with Roma at the top of the table after both teams won all four of their opening league fixtures.
For Okoye, the match provided another high-profile Serie A test against one of Italy’s leading sides.
The Nigerian goalkeeper will now turn his attention back to Udinese’s league campaign as the club looks to recover from the defeat and build on the positive aspects of their performance, particularly the impressive opening spell at San Siro.
Despite surrendering the two-goal advantage, Udinese demonstrated in the first 16 minutes that they can trouble top opposition.
Their challenge now will be to maintain that intensity and defensive discipline for the full 90 minutes when they face another difficult opponent in Serie A.
