Comovs
Manchester UnitedThere are bad nights in Europe, and then there is this. Manchester United traveled to the Giuseppe Sinigaglia and were taken apart by a Como side that barely broke a sweat doing it, winning 4-1 in a result that felt even more lopsided than the scoreline suggests.
It took exactly two minutes. Lucas Da Cunha slipped the ball through to Nico Paz, who finished without ceremony, and the tone was set before most fans had found their seats. United's form coming in — one win in their last five — was not exactly a warning anyone heeded loudly enough.
The First Half Was Deceptive
United actually had more shots on the night (13 to Como's 11), which tells you something about how little the numbers captured. Como's eight shots on target to United's four is a sharper picture. The visitors moved the ball and probed, but Andrey Santos picking up a yellow card in the 25th minute was the most consequential thing they produced before the break.
Como went in a goal up and, in truth, comfortable.
Paz and the Second Half Burial
The game died as a contest within the first twelve minutes after halftime. Anastasios Douvikas headed in at the back post in the 49th minute, Paz having set him up this time rather than scored himself. Then, in the 57th, Paz turned provider into finisher again — his second of the night, and Como's third.
Carlos Baleba was booked in the 50th minute as United scrambled to get a foothold. They never did. ¡Ala gran púchica! — three goals in less than an hour against a Champions League opponent, and Como were not even done.
Jacobo Ramón made it four in the 76th minute, getting on the end of a Kaiki cross to head home and complete what had become an embarrassment. Shea Lacey was booked for United in the 86th, and Marc-Oliver Kempf picked up a late yellow for Como — the kind of card you get when the game is already won and tensions are just bleeding off.
Joshua Zirkzee pulled one back in stoppage time off an Amad Diallo assist, but it was the most cosmetic consolation goal you'll see in this competition.
Verdict
Our pre-match read called this too close to split — and Como settled it with authority. They controlled possession at 54.8 percent, completed 669 passes at 90 percent accuracy, and kept United's 13 shots largely to the perimeter. Nico Paz was the story: two goals, one assist, and the kind of performance that makes you wonder how long Como can keep him.
El nivel de Paz on a night like this — that is what Champions League football is supposed to produce from young players on the rise.
For United, the question now is how deep the problems actually run. Five games without a win, a 4-1 hiding at a newly-arrived European side, and no obvious fix on the horizon. They will feel this one for a while.
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