Wesley Franca got the only goal to set Roma back on track in Serie A and inflict the second consecutive defeat on Como, who lost Assane Diao to a new injury.
The Giallorossi were coming off back-to-back Serie A defeats that saw them slide down the standings, but won on Thursday in the Europa League away to Celtic, with Evan Ferguson scoring twice. With Paulo Dybala not fully fit, Artem Dovbyk injured, Zeki Celik suspended, and Neil El Aynaoui on AFCON duty, Ferguson was again upfront. Como made changes after their 4-0 loss to Inter, as Alvaro Morata, Sergi Roberto, Alberto Dossena and Edoardo Goldaniga were injured, with Maxi Perrone suspended. Assane Diao and Evan Ndicka had permission to delay their AFCON departure, but Nico Paz was surprisingly moved into a False 9 role.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Lorenzo Pellegrini’s free kick was knocked down by Mario Hermoso for a mad scramble, then Wesley wasted from a promising position by ballooning over the bar.
Matias Soulé saw his strike charged down by Marc-Oliver Kempf, but there were chances at both ends in one move. Pellegrini’s acrobatic attempt on a corner found Ndicka for an effort charged down by Jacobo Ramon, so Diao sprinted away on the counter-attack, shrugged off two, until Devyne Rensch got back in time for the decisive block.
Diao pulled up just as he was finishing that run and limped off a few minutes later with a muscular injury, putting him in doubt for the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.
Martin Baturina made a crucial block to deflect Ferguson’s finish over the bar at the end of a well-worked team move, then moments later Ferguson prodded a Wesley assist straight at Jean Butez.
Como threatened in first half stoppages when a free kick was flicked on by Kempf for Tasos Douvikas, forcing Mile Svilar to rush off his line and palm it away from close range.
Straight after the restart, Soulé nodded onto the upright and Bryan Cristante fired in the rebound, but none of it mattered because Pellegrini was offside on the initial cross.
Como threatened too, as Svilar had to scramble across to claw the deflected Douvikas shot away from Baturina at the back post. On the resulting corner, Nico Paz saw his volley charged down, and the Lucas Da Cunha follow-up was deflected wide.
Roma broke the deadlock when Como had Addai down hurt near the corner flag after diving into a tackle, as the move continued with a cross that Soulé laid off for Wesley, his daisy-cutter going through Alex Valle’s legs into the far bottom corner.
Ferguson’s angled drive flashed wide, while Jesus Rodriguez swung a dangerous ball across the face of goal that no Como teammates could connect with.
Ndicka made a decisive sliding block from six yards on Stefan Posch, while Posch also hit the side-netting after an Ignace van der Brempt strong run. Leon Bailey forced a fingertip save from Butez at the near post in added time.
There was tension at the final whistle with a row between Gianluca Mancini, who shoulder barged Jacobo Ramon off the field, and the Como players. It continues with an intense conversation between Mancini and Cesc Fabregas.
Rome 1-0 Como
Wesley 60 (R)
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