´I´ve been doing this for 15 years!´ – Age no barrier for in-form Dzeko after Inter victory

Inter striker Edin Dzeko says his form does not take him by surprise after his double steered the Serie A side to victory over Atalanta on Sunday.

Goals either side of half-time took the Bosnian to three in his last two appearances, and the 3-2 win at the Gewiss Stadium helped push the Nerazzurri back into the thick of the top-four race.

With a break for the World Cup set to halt all domestic football at the highest level until after Christmas, it marks an impressive capstone to the first half of the campaign for the veteran.

At 36, Dzeko should arguably be looking to wind down his career but after his 250th Serie A appearance, the forward told Sky Sport Italia: “I am not surprised by my form.

“I’ve been doing this for over 15 years. Others might be surprised, but I’m not.

“We started a bit sluggish, but we woke up after conceding. Atalanta are always a dangerous team, but we really woke up after that initial goal and it was a good performance from then on.”

8 – Edin #Dzeko, for him today 250th game played in Serie A, has scored 8 goals vs Atalanta: against no team he did better in the top-flight (eight also vs Sassuolo and Bologna). Habit.#AtalantaInter

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) November 13, 2022

With a contract that expires at the end of the season, many had wondered if this could be Dzeko’s final campaign for Inter, having arrived from Roma last year.

But the attacker harbours hopes he will continue in Milan, adding: “I have a contract until June. I do my best, I want to stay here and continue, so we’ll see what happens.”

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini saw his side lose points from a winning situation once again, having gone 1-0 up through an Ademola Lookman penalty, and admitted it is a pressing issue for the club this term.

“Undoubtedly, it is something we need to work on, because we barely had time to control taking the lead when we were pegged back,” he noted.

“We are up against some technically gifted sides and right now we aren’t as lucky as we were at the start of the campaign.”