Adriano has revealed Inter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic allowed him to take the penalty in Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Bologna.

Adriano said: "Ibrahimovic was set to take it, but I asked because it was very special for me to score at San Siro. He understood and let me step up. It's great when your teammates help out."

He continued: "Things are going better with each game and I gave my all for the team. I think that I can return to being the player I was.

"I was playing in a slightly different role to the one I had before, but I like it as I have to combine with Ibra and come back to get the ball.

"It's an important victory as it puts us top of the table. It was tough, but we knew it was going to be, as in Italy nobody is easy to defeat."