Edin Dzeko admitted he is sometimes guilty of missing simple chances after leading Inter to an important 3-1 Champions League win over Sheriff.

The Bosnia-Herzegovina striker scored an expert volley in the first half to put the Nerazzurri ahead at San Siro on Tuesday.

Sebastien Thill levelled with a fine free-kick, but Dzeko set up Arturo Vidal to restore Inter's lead and Stefan de Vrij made certain of just their second win in 10 Champions League matches.

Dzeko's superb finish came after he missed an easier chance when through on Dumitru Celeadnic's goal 17 minutes in.

And the 35-year-old, who has scored seven goals in 11 appearances in all competitions since being signed to replace Romelu Lukaku, accepted he often fails to make the most of more presentable openings.

"Sometimes I make difficult goals seem easy and other times I miss easy goals!" he said to Sky Sport Italia.

"It might be a question of concentration, but the important thing is to have scored tonight."

"We deserved much more in Rome [against Lazio], but the important thing is there was another match where we could give everything like we have today. We did well after taking only one point from two Champions League games."

Inter's first win of their Champions League campaign moved them to within two points of Group D leaders Sheriff and Real Madrid and gave a major boost to their hopes of reaching the last 16.

Vidal felt the victory was vital not just for their European campaign, but to give the team confidence ahead of Sunday's Serie A clash with Juventus.

"It was a really perfect night for us," Vidal told Inter TV. "We needed a win by this sort of margin to gain confidence, also in terms of looking at Sunday's game.

"We want to progress in the Champions League and we needed to win today. We lost a really bad game against Lazio last Sunday. Today, we had a good game that gives us confidence for the future."