It carried none of the swagger of last season's 7-1 demolition of Roma or the frantic breathlessness of the 3-2 win over AC Milan that was not enough to carry Manchester United to a European Cup final, but there was something compelling about another Italian night at Old Trafford.
This was another vastly entertaining evening overflowing with flair but also enough defensive errors to concern Sir Alex Ferguson as the Premiership's phoney war nears its end. A friendly it may have been, but Inter Milan asked rather more questions than Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and the rest of United's opponents in their Far Eastern tour put together.
"The defending in the first half was very poor," the Manchester United manager reflected. "It does not matter who you are up against; if you defend like that you are going to lose." The principal offenders were Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra, two of the most influential figures of last season's championship-winning side - although another defender, Rio Ferdinand, might have equalised had he not blazed into the stands from a few yards out.
If this is to be Edwin van der Sar's last season, as he has suggested, he would probably want greater protection than that offered him in a dazzlingly fluid opening 45 minutes. The keeper said he would make a decision on his future in January, arguing he found United's last campaign exhausting.
"I didn't have the same consistency at the end of last season as I had in the previous part of the campaign," the 38-year-old said. "I don't know why, there were a couple of things I wasn't happy with. Last season was a long campaign but I've had a good break and I feel good. I am not going to think about what will happen. If I'm still enjoying myself, then we'll see but nothing will be decided before January. I'm not going to over-enjoy it, just because it might be my last." He would hope to be considerably less busy when Reading come calling in 10 days' time.
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