Como score three times in 16 minutes to hammer Genoa 4-1 and go third

Genoa led for six minutes. Then Como spent the rest of the afternoon reminding everyone why they are one of the stories of this Serie A season so far.

Milutin Osmajic put the hosts ahead early at the Ferraris, but Como hit back through Martin Baturina, Assane Diao and Nico Paz before half-time and added a second Diao goal after the break to win 4-1 — a result that lifts Cesc Fàbregas's side into the Champions League places after three rounds.

Osmajic strikes early, then Como take over

Genoa's goal came from a move down the left finished off by Osmajic on 19', but the lead lasted six minutes. Baturina levelled from distance on 25', Diao volleyed in from a back-post cross on 30', and Nico Paz curled a shot into the top corner on 41' to send Como in 3-1 up at the break.

Kean's debut cameo sets up Diao's second

New signing Moise Kean came on for his Como debut in the second half and had an immediate impact, setting up Assane Diao's second goal of the afternoon on 78' to complete the rout and make it 4-1. The Italy international had arrived from Fiorentina on transfer deadline day, in a deal worth around €40m including add-ons — Como's ninth signing of the summer window, and the clearest sign yet of the scale of Fàbregas's rebuild.

Fàbregas's project, three years on

The gulf on display at the Ferraris is no accident. Cesc Fàbregas has taken Como from Serie B to a first Champions League campaign in the space of three seasons, and Nico Paz — signed on a permanent deal from Real Madrid, with a buy-back clause still attached — was voted the best midfielder in Serie A last season. The curling finish that put Como 3-1 up before half-time was exactly that level of quality on show, and it came from a 19-year-old who is still, technically, on loan from the club that wants him back.

Como kept climbing, Genoa kept losing

Fàbregas's side rode the win over Genoa into a run of three more without defeat, including a 4-1 dismantling of RB Leipzig on their Champions League debut, before finally losing at Frosinone on matchday 5. Genoa found no such lift: a 1-1 draw at home to Frosinone was followed by a 1-2 loss at Parma, leaving them without a win in five league games. The Frosinone defeat was also Como's first loss in six matches in all competitions this season, and the first time in that run Fàbregas's side failed to score.

Match facts

• 19' — Milutin Osmajic (Genoa)
• 25' — Martin Baturina (Como)
• 30' — Assane Diao (Como)
• 41' — Nico Paz (Como)
• 78' — Assane Diao (Como), assisted by Moise Kean
• Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa — Serie A matchday 3, Friday 4 September 2026

Where it leaves them now

Five matchdays in, Como sit 7th on 10 points — level on points with 4th-placed Frosinone and the Champions League places, only behind on goal difference (+3 against +5). Genoa are 19th on a single point, in the relegation zone with the division's second-worst goal difference at -7, still without a win. The 4-1 at the Ferraris was not a one-off for either club: it was the start of Como's best stretch of the season and the middle of Genoa's worst.