Dzeko: We had to suffer a bit

Two brilliant second half strikes from the club captain proved enough for the Giallorossi, despite Manolo Gabbiadini's early finish.

Dzeko moved up to joint fifth on the club's all-time scoring charts with his 103rd and 104th goals for the side - but acknowledged afterwards that it had not been a straightforward night for the side.

“I felt pretty good [to be back out on the pitch]," Dzeko said.

"In the first half we created a lot of chances, but then we conceded a goal because of our mistake – but that can happen, when you haven’t played for three months.

“The important thing was not to let our heads drop, to keep on playing.”

Was there a different attitude to things in the second half?

“Definitely, we kept going right until the end – you have to play for the full 90 minutes. It wasn’t easy to go 1-0 down. We had to try everything to turn things around, to get the win.

"We had the chances it to turn it around sooner but it didn’t quite happen. We had to suffer a bit.”

Some have already compared your first goal to one from Gabriel Batistuta against Parma – was it a Batistuta goal, or a Dzeko goal?

“A Dzeko goal, of course. Always.”