Inter Milan 3-1 Udinese: The new boys win it

Inter took on Udinese today hoping for a win to solidify their grip on 4th place. With Thohir and the potential new investors watching, nothing less than a win would have been acceptable. Thanks to goals from Jovetic (who now has 8 goals in 8 appearances against Udinese) and Eder (who scored his first Inter goal), the home side were able to walk away with all three points and can sit back tomorrow and see what happens with their rivals.

Mancini made a couple of changes to his starting lineup for this match. The backline was made up of Nagatomo, Miranda, Murillo, and Juan Jesus. With Medel suspended Melo took his place in the midfield along with Brozovic and Kondogbia (who returned from his one-match ban). The front three saw the Icardi and Jovetic partnership back together along with Biabiany. Oh and fun fact, this match was the first game in Serie A history where neither side had an Italian in their starting lineup.

Udinese silenced the home crowd nine minutes in when a Badu ball over the top found Thereau and his first time shot flew into the back of the net. The rest of the half was all Inter though as the early deficit motivated their players to storm forward in search of an equalizer. Karnezis stopped efforts from Kondogbia and Biabiany before Inter leveled the scoreline on 36 minutes. Icardi dribbled in the area and passed the ball across the face of goal for Jovetic to tap in. Inter kept pushing for a goal to give them the lead but the away side were able to keep them at bay for the rest of the half.

The second half began with Udinese trying to impose their will on the match. First Edenilson forced a save from Handanovic and JJ had to be alert to prevent a Widmer tap in, then the away side hit the crossbar a few minutes later. Inter responded with shots of their own through Brozovic and Jovetic and eventually the Montenegrin striker got his second goal of the night. Brozovic played in Biabiany on the overlap, and his cross couldn't be missed by Jovetic. In the final minute of the match Handanovic had to make a double save, and then his quick release lead to a counter where Brozovic sent in a through ball for substitute Eder who scored with the final kick of the match to open his account for the Nerazzurri.

This was a good performance. The players didn't let their heads drop despite the early setback and that mentality was great to see. Tomorrow Fiorentina take on Juventus and on Monday Roma play Napoli. Mancini and his players did their part by winning, now all we can do is see what happens everywhere else.