Nico Paz scored twice as Como humiliated Manchester United 4-1 at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia on Wednesday, deepening the crisis around Michael Carrick. Paz curled the hosts in front after two minutes and struck again in the second half, with Anastasios Douvikas and Jacobo Ramón also on target before Joshua Zirkzee's late consolation for a United side that was outplayed from start to finish.
Paz stuns United inside two minutes
This was supposed to be a famous European night for Como, playing Champions League football at home by Lake Como — and Cesc Fàbregas' young side treated it like one from the first whistle. United, by contrast, arrived under a cloud, with Carrick's team short of form and the fallout from the Lisandro Martínez media-ban row still hanging over the camp.
Two minutes in, the stadium erupted. Lucas Da Cunha fed Paz and the Argentina playmaker curled a gorgeous strike into the top corner, unstoppable for Senne Lammens — his first Champions League goal since scoring for Real Madrid against Napoli in November 2023. As Sky Sports' live commentary recorded, Como never looked back: they held more than 64 per cent of possession in the first half, pinned United back and went in at the break 1-0 up, when the lead could easily have been bigger.
United's problems were everywhere. Andrey Santos, booked in the first half, was hooked at the interval along with Matheus Cunha, as Carrick sent on Carlos Baleba and Amad Diallo. The one note of genuine warmth for the visitors was Matthijs de Ligt starting after almost a year out injured — but even he could not hold this defence together.
Douvikas, Paz again and Ramón complete the rout
Four minutes after the restart it was 2-0. Paz turned provider, playing in Douvikas, and the Greek striker — who scored in Como's 4-1 win over RB Leipzig on Matchday 1 and again in the 3-2 defeat at Feyenoord last week — got away from De Ligt and finished first time. On 57 minutes Paz made it three with his second of the night, and United were being dismantled.
Carrick withdrew captain Bruno Fernandes for Zirkzee on 67 minutes, but the change changed nothing. On 76 minutes Ramón rose to head in a cross from substitute Kaiki for 4-0, sparking wild celebrations in the home end. Zirkzee, set up by Amad, pulled one back in the first minute of added time, but it was the emptiest of consolations. There were no red cards; this defeat needed no dismissal to explain it — United were simply second best in every department, as NBC Sports' live updates made plain throughout a chastening evening.
So what: Como dream on, United stuck on three points
The league-phase table now tells two very different stories. Como move on to six points from three matches — the Leipzig rout, the narrow Feyenoord defeat and now a 4-1 demolition of Manchester United — and Fàbregas' side, in their first-ever Champions League campaign, look like genuine contenders for a top-eight finish and direct qualification for the last 16 rather than wide-eyed debutants making up the numbers.
United stay on three points, from the opening 4-0 win over Sabah, after back-to-back away defeats at Atlético Madrid and now Como. The play-off places, let alone the top eight, are slipping away, and the inquest will be brutal: Roma visit Old Trafford on Matchday 4 on 3 November, and Carrick — already under severe pressure after a poor start to the season — may not survive many more nights like this one.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this was not a smash-and-grab or a bad night at the office — it was a changing-of-the-guard performance. Como, European debutants, played with the swagger of serial winners, and in Nico Paz they have a No.10 who ran a Champions League game against Manchester United like it was a training session. For Carrick, a 4-1 defeat by a club playing its third-ever match in this competition is the kind of result that ends eras. Is this the lowest point of United's season, or can Carrick turn it around before Roma arrive? Let us know in the comments.
