Inter beat Udinese 5-3 at San Siro on Monday to keep a perfect start to their Serie A title defence, and for the second league game in a row they did it from two goals down. Against Napoli nine days earlier it took three. On Monday it took five, from Carlos Augusto, Nicolò Barella, Marcus Thuram, Francesco Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoan Bonny, in front of 73,700, six days after the 2-1 defeat at Real Madrid.

The number that explains the night is the shot count. Udinese had six attempts and scored with three of them. Inter had 27, 12 on target, and the equaliser arrived before half-time.

Sixteen minutes of trouble

Cristian Chivu rotated. John Stones made his first start, Lautaro Martínez and Yann Bisseck began on the bench, and Hakan Çalhanoğlu was not in the squad at all. The club said before kick-off that he had a muscular problem in his adductor, to be assessed in the coming days.

Udinese led on nine minutes. A short corner was worked to Unai Gómez, whose cross from the right found James Abankwah unmarked to head into the top corner, his first Serie A goal. Thuram had a header and a follow-up saved by Maduka Okoye, and then Keinan Davis got down the left and rolled the ball across for Jurgen Ekkelenkamp to tap in at the near post. Two-nil after 16 minutes, and San Siro had seen this before.

Thuram went down under Christian Kabasele, the penalty appeal was refused, and Inter's assistant coach Aleksandar Kolarov was sent off from the bench for what he said about it.

Nine minutes to level it

Carlos Augusto started the recovery on 26, a left-foot strike from 20 yards into the far corner, his second goal in consecutive matches after scoring at the Bernabéu. Nine minutes later Hassane Kamara was muscled off the ball in midfield, Thuram laid it off, Barella stumbled, got up and drove it in from an angle. Okoye kept it at 2-2 until the break, palming a Barella shot over the bar.

The second half was one-way. Andy Diouf ran onto Barella's ball over the top, reached the byline and pulled it back for Thuram to sweep in first time on 57. Stones limped off five minutes later with a muscular problem. Pio Esposito made it four on 67, a low finish from 12 yards after Curtis Jones and Piotr Zieliński combined, and Bonny, on for Thuram, scored the fifth on the rebound after Okoye parried his first effort. Federico Dimarco, back from a knee injury, was involved in the move.

Idrissa Gueye's stoppage-time goal, sliding in at the back post from Vakoun Bayo's chest-down, left the score at 5-3.

Highlights from Inter's official channel.

Chivu is worried, and says so

Inter are Serie A's top scorers with 14 goals from four games. They have also conceded eight, and have taken six points from losing positions, more than any other side. Chivu did not pretend that was a plan.

If I don't say I'm worried, then I am not a coach.

Cristian Chivu, speaking to Sky Sport Italia

He put the opening 25 minutes down to energy, telling Sky Sport Italia that the Champions League "really saps your energy" and that he had half expected the slow start. He also said he liked the way the equaliser came from winning the ball back quickly, and that "as a player and a coach, I've never seen a perfect football team".

Thuram's reading was simpler. "We've proved that we are a team that know how to react," he said.

Level with Roma, and playing them next

The win takes Inter to 12 points from four matches, level with Roma, who beat Torino 2-0 earlier on Monday and stay top on goal difference. The two meet at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday at 18:00 CEST, the only sides in Serie A with four wins from four. Udinese remain on four points in 13th.