With a UEFA Champions League blockbuster against Premier League leaders Arsenal on the horizon in midweek, Cristian Chivu shuffled his pack with changes throughout his Inter starting XI, yet they still started in fluid fashion.
Lautaro Martinez and Federico Dimarco both went close to breaking the deadlock in the opening five minutes, and though they were made to wait, the Nerazzurri were celebrating before the first half’s midway point.
Piotr Zielinski’s driven pass from deep found Francesco Pio Esposito, who produced a cushioned lay-off for strike partner Martinez.
The Argentina international then did the rest, holding off defenders and finding the bottom corner with the outside of his right boot to end a three-game scoring drought in the league.
Given that Udinese had drawn their prior two home league outings after conceding the opener, the Nerazzurri couldn’t afford to let up.
And they didn’t, with star performers Martínez and Dimarco combining for another chance around the half-hour mark that saw the wing-back’s low drive well saved by the busy Maduka Okoye.
The hosts offered little threat before the break, with Yann Sommer’s most strenuous work coming when he parried away Keinan Davis’ effort from the edge of the area, denying the Englishman a repeat of his match opener in the reverse fixture.
Kosta Runjaic’s men struggled to change the pattern of play after the restart, and they needed Okoye to thwart Henrikh Mkhitaryan from an acute angle to keep their deficit at one, before Dimarco’s finish from a similar area was chalked off for an offside in the build-up.
Frustration amongst the home supporters was replaced with a sense of injustice 20 minutes from time, when Carlos Augusto was penalised for a late challenge on the edge of the box as the last Inter defender back, yet was only given a yellow card rather than a red.
Udinese had far more of the ball in the closing stages, but their failure to work Sommer meant that Inter were ultimately untroubled in securing a sixth successive away league victory, which puts Chivu’s men in the driver’s seat in a competitive race for the Scudetto.
Udinese, meanwhile, have won just one of their last six games and appear destined for a season stranded in mid-table.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Federico Dimarco (Inter)