With a 3-2 victory at Bergamo before the World Cup break, Inter moved ahead of Atalanta and into the top form of Serie A. Edin Dzeko scored twice.
What happened in the game?
On Sunday, Inter fell behind after Ademola Lookman’s penalty, but Dzeko’s goals either side of halftime turned the game around in the visitors’ favor.
Joakim Maehle’s deflection assisted Dzeko’s second attempt, and Atalanta once more came to the Nerazzurri’s aid when Jose Luis Palomino scored the third goal by putting the ball into his own net.
Palomino did score later at the right end, but it was already too late as Inter had already opened up a three-point lead over Atalanta and were level on points with Lazio in second place before the rest of the day’s games.
Duvan Zapata had two of the first few opportunities for Atalanta denied before being brought down by Stefan de Vrij and awarded a penalty that Lookman successfully scored.
The goal jolted Inter out of their stupor and forced them to attack, and they were rewarded with Dzeko’s strike after a Lautaro Martinez header aided the ball into his path.
Following the break, Atalanta had hoped to regain control of the game, but instead they contributed to their own demise as a combination of Dzeko and Maehle put Inter in front thanks to a cross from Federico Dimarco.
Inter sign-off to the World Cup break with a win
It is still unclear how Europe’s biggest and finest club sides will react when the action picks back up after an unusual World Cup break.
Even though Inter is still 11 points behind league leader Napoli, they at least finished the first half of the season with some momentum after winning six of their last seven games.
Edin Dzeko’s stats so far this season
After scoring in the 6-1 victory against Bologna in midweek, Dzeko now has six league goals for the season and three in his last two games. His first goal was originally credited to Maehle, but he is now receiving the credit.
Dzeko hasn’t scored in four straight league games since October 2021, which makes this the first time in more than a year.
Palomino made up for his mistake by scoring to put Atalanta back in the game, but his own goal had left the home team facing an uphill battle.
Since Robin Gosens against Napoli in February 2021, he is the only Atalanta player to score both a goal and an own goal in the same game.
What’s next?
Nothing up until the new year. Both teams have a few friendlies scheduled for December, but they won’t play again until 2023, when Inter hosts Napoli at home and Atalanta travels to Spezia.