In a pulsating Serie A clash, Como secured their second consecutive victory with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Hellas Verona. The match was marked by Patrick Cutrone’s impressive brace and Andrea Belotti’s maiden goal for Como, but controversy erupted over the dismissal of Verona’s Tomas Suslov.
Como entered the match riding high on their recent shock victory against Atalanta, while Verona sought to bounce back from consecutive losses to Lazio and Torino. The visitors were further hampered by injuries and suspensions, including Pawel Dawidowicz’s two-match ban.
The opening period saw Como dominating possession, with Ignace van der Brempt’s early penalty appeal waved off. Alberto Moreno and Nico Paz tested Verona’s goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipò, who made several spectacular saves to keep his team in the game. Verona thought they had taken the lead against the run of play through Casper Tengstedt, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Como’s persistence finally paid off when Patrick Cutrone’s curling effort took a massive deflection off Jackson Tchatchoua, looping over the helpless Montipò to break the deadlock.
The second half began with chaos as VAR intervened to award Verona a penalty after Sergi Roberto’s challenge on Darko Lazovic. Lazovic himself converted the spot-kick to level the scores. However, the match took a dramatic turn when Tomas Suslov received a controversial second yellow card, reducing Verona to ten men.
Cutrone capitalized on the numerical advantage, restoring Como’s lead with a powerful strike from the edge of the area after a brilliant pass from Nico Paz. Andrea Belotti then sealed the victory for Como, scoring his first Serie A goal for the club after a parried shot and a generous assist from Luca Mazzitelli.
Despite being a man down, Verona showed remarkable resilience. Mathis Lambourde managed to pull one back with a clever finish, setting up a tense finale. Daniel Mosquera nearly equalized on a counter-attack, but Como’s desperate defending preserved their lead.
Goals: Cutrone 43, 72 (C), Lazovic pen 53 (V), Belotti 89 (C), Lambourde 94 (V
Como (4-2-3-1): Audero; Van der Brempf, Dossena, Kempf, Alberto Moreno; Sergi Roberto, Perrone (dal 90′ +1 Baselli); Strefezza (dal 78′ Da Cunha), Paz (dal 90′ +1 Ali Jasim), Fadera; Cutrone (dal 78′ Belotti)
Verona (4-2-3-1): Montipò; Tchatchoua, Coppola, Daniliuc, Frese; Belahyane, Dani Silva (dal 46′ Duda); Suslov, Lazovic (dal 76′ Livramento), Kastanos (dal 46′ Mosquera); Tengstedt (dal 66′ Magnani).
