For a quarter of an hour on Monday night, the San Siro held its breath and feared the worst. Udinese, thirteenth and rebuilding, had the audacity to arrive in Milan and race two goals clear, and Internazionale looked, briefly, like a side about to be embarrassed on their own turf. What followed was a reminder of why they sit second in Serie A: a controlled, relentless dismantling that ended 5-3 and left no doubt about the gulf between these two clubs.

This was a game of two distinct halves of momentum. Udinese's early daring gave way to Inter's suffocating quality, and once the hosts drew level before the break the outcome felt inevitable. Five goals from five different scorers told the story of a team with menace running through every line. By the time the visitors grabbed a late consolation, the contest had long since been settled.

It moves Internazionale to twelve points from four matches, a perfect record of four wins, and keeps them firmly in the slipstream at the summit. For Udinese, the bright start counted for nothing against a side of this calibre.

A brutal opening

Udinese could scarcely have dreamed of a better beginning. In the ninth minute James Abankwah rose in the centre of the box to meet Unai Gómez's cross from a corner, planting a header into the top right corner and stunning the home crowd into silence. It was a set-piece executed with real precision, and the visitors had their reward.

Seven minutes later they doubled it, and there was nothing fortunate about this one either. Keinan Davis did the work to tee up Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, who arrived at the left side of the six-yard box and swept a right-footed finish into the bottom left corner. Two goals to the good inside sixteen minutes, Udinese had the temerity to believe.

The San Siro shifted uneasily. Inter, so assured in their opening three fixtures, suddenly looked ragged and rattled, chasing shadows against a team playing with fearless clarity. But two goals is a slender cushion against a side of this quality, and the response was not long in coming.

The tide turns

Carlos Augusto lit the fuse in the 26th minute, striding onto the ball outside the box and lashing a left-footed drive low into the bottom right corner. It was the goal Inter needed, a strike of quality that reminded Udinese exactly what they were up against, and from that moment the momentum began to drain from the visitors.

Nine minutes later it was level. Marcus Thuram, all power and intelligence, slipped the ball to Nicolò Barella, who took aim from the right side of the box and steered a right-footed finish into the bottom left corner. Two down had become two apiece before the interval, and the psychological damage to Udinese was plain. The San Siro roared back to life, its team transformed.

By half-time the game had been reframed entirely. What had looked like a possible upset was now a contest Inter controlled, their forward line humming and Udinese suddenly hanging on. The visitors trudged off knowing they had squandered a two-goal lead and that the second half offered little shelter.

Ruthless in the second half

Inter emerged after the break with the scent of blood. In the 57th minute Andy Diouf laid the ball into the path of Marcus Thuram, who arrived in the centre of the box and finished with his right foot into the bottom left corner. For the first time all evening the hosts led, and there would be no looking back.

The goals kept coming. On 67 minutes Piotr Zielinski's pass found Francesco Pio Esposito, who converted from the centre of the box into the bottom left corner for 4-2. Twelve minutes later Ange-Yoan Bonny made it five, driving a left-footed strike high into the centre of the goal. Five different scorers, a forward line taking turns to punish, and Udinese utterly overwhelmed.

There was still time for Idrissa Gueye to restore a shred of pride in the 90th minute, latching onto Vakoun Bayo's assist and finishing into the bottom right corner. It flattered nobody. By then the outcome had been beyond dispute for the best part of half an hour, and the goal served only as a footnote to a comprehensive Inter victory.

The road ahead

This was a night that spoke volumes about Internazionale's character. To fall two goals behind at home and respond with five without so much as a wobble is the mark of a team that trusts its own quality absolutely. Four games, four wins, thirteen goals scored: the numbers read like a side that intends to be involved at the very top of Serie A come the spring.

There will be questions, too, about the defensive lapses that allowed Udinese their fast start, and three goals conceded at home is not a total any coach relishes. But the sheer weight of firepower up front papers over a great deal, and with the goals spread across the team, Inter carry a threat that few in the division can match.

For Udinese, the lesson is a harsh one. They played with courage and imagination for sixteen minutes and were made to pay for every subsequent shortcoming, sliding to thirteenth on four points from four matches. The performance offers something to build on; the scoreline offers a warning. Bravery alone will not survive contact with the elite, and on this evidence Inter belong among them.