Manchester United’s 4-1 defeat at Como extended their winless run to seven matches and increased the pressure on manager Michael Carrick after a dismal Champions League display in Italy.
United conceded after only two minutes and were repeatedly exposed by a Como side that showed greater intensity and quality. Their midfield struggled to track runners, while defensive errors allowed the hosts to take control.
Nico Paz opened the scoring by curling into the top corner after Harry Maguire afforded him too much room. United had chances to respond, with Diogo Dalot shooting wide and Maguire heading over from a Bryan Mbeumo cross, but they failed to make them count.
Como threatened again before the interval, although Tasos Douvikas missed from a promising position. The forward was then denied a penalty when he was flagged offside after going down under a challenge from goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
Carrick made two changes at half-time, sending on Amad Diallo and Carlos Baleba for Andrey Santos and Matheus Cunha. The alterations did little to stem Como’s momentum.
Four minutes into the second half, Paz slipped a pass through to Douvikas, who ran beyond Matthijs de Ligt before finishing. It was a particularly difficult evening for De Ligt, making his first start in 325 days after back problems amid a wider injury crisis at United.
Como added a third in the 57th minute when Baleba lost possession while attempting to turn in his own half. Paz seized on the mistake, raced through and finished to claim his second goal of the night.
United briefly threatened through Amad, who could not connect with Bruno Fernandes’ cross-field pass before seeing another effort tipped over. Their captain, however, had another anonymous outing and has now produced only one goal involvement in his last nine appearances for the club.
Jacobo Ramon completed Como’s sweeping move by heading in an unmarked fourth goal in the 76th minute. Joshua Zirkzee scored in stoppage time after controlling Amad’s cross, but the late effort offered little consolation.
United have collected only three points from their opening three Champions League matches and face an uphill task to progress from the league phase. Their immediate challenge is to produce a response against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.
Paul Merson: Manchester United are far from being a top team
Pundit Paul Merson said United’s latest defeat should not have come as a surprise, arguing that the club’s reputation was masking the team’s current level.
“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,” he said.
“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. They’re far from it.”
Merson added: “Everybody judges them on when they had superstars. I don’t see it as a shock. I look at their players and I don’t go, ‘oh this is a surprise’. I didn’t expect them to beat Leeds. Absolutely not. I didn’t expect them to beat Como. That’s where they are.”
“Rooney, Ronaldo, Keane… they’re a million miles away.”
