Reporting note: this article draws on Sky Sports; Score808 Live provides the summary and editorial framing.
Como vs Manchester United finished 4-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday night in Italy. Michael Carrick's side conceded inside two minutes and never regained control of the pitch. The result leaves United winless in seven matches across all competitions and with three points from three league-phase games.
Como vs Manchester United: the sequence of events
The match broke into discrete phases. Each one moved the game further from United.
- 2nd minute, miss: Diogo Dalot controlled a Matheus Cunha cross inside the box. His left-footed shot passed the far post.
- 2nd minute, goal: Nico Paz curled the opener into the top corner. Harry Maguire had given him space in the same zone Dalot had just attacked.
- 17th minute: Maguire headed wide from a Bryan Mbeumo cross.
- 39th minute: Tasos Douvikas shot over from inside the box against static defending.
- 41st minute: An offside flag against Douvikas spared Senne Lammens after the goalkeeper brought him down in the box.
- Half-time: Carrick sent on Amad Diallo and Carlos Baleba for Andrey Santos and Matheus Cunha.
- 49th minute, goal: Paz played in Douvikas, who ran off Matthijs de Ligt and finished. 2-0.
- 57th minute, goal: Baleba turned in his own half with no cover behind him. Paz took the ball, ran in and scored. 3-0.
- 76th minute, goal: Centre-back Jacobo Ramon headed in unmarked to finish a sweeping move. 4-0.
- 90+1st minute, goal: Joshua Zirkzee controlled an Amad cross and scored, narrowly onside. 4-1.
Sky Sports notes United are the first English side ever to concede so early in back-to-back Champions League games.
Nico Paz and the space United conceded
Paz produced two goals and one assist. The geography of those three actions is the story: the opener from the edge of the box with Maguire closing late, the assist from a central pocket behind United's midfield, the third from a turnover 40 yards from his own goal.
United's midfield stayed static out of possession. Como players ran off them. Markers were lost. The source report describes this as the recurring failure of the night rather than a single breakdown.
Bruno Fernandes was again peripheral. He now has one goal involvement in his past nine appearances for the club. His reaction after the fourth goal was visible from the pitch.
Michael Carrick and the winless sequence
Seven matches without a win is the immediate number attached to Carrick. The performance in Italy adds a second: United were outworked by a side coached by Cesc Fabregas that the source describes as delivering more intensity and quality.
Sky Sports' Paul Merson argued the result should not be read as a surprise.
"They've got to start winning matches. The problem with Manchester United is we still live in the age of when it was Rooney, Ronaldo and people like that. We're caught by the name - one of the biggest clubs in the world. But they're not one of the biggest teams in the world."
Merson added that he did not expect United to beat Leeds or Como, and that the players on the pitch do not match the club's historical reference points.
Matthijs de Ligt returns amid an injury list
De Ligt made his first start in 325 days after back problems. The source attributes the selection to a wider spate of injuries at the club. His return lasted the full match, and the second Como goal came from Douvikas running away from him.
That injury context is the main team-news line from the night. United's defensive options were already reduced before kick-off, and the shape that started in Italy conceded four goals in 76 minutes.
What comes next for Manchester United
United host Bournemouth on Sunday in the Premier League. The source frames that fixture as an immediate need for a better performance and a win, with the Champions League league-phase route now described as an uphill battle after three points from three games.
The travelling support stood in the rain in Italy to watch the dismantling. Excuses around injuries may wear thin quickly with that group, per the report.
The original report is from skysports.com.
