Champions League1 hour ago1 minute read

Fabregas Regrets Telling Como to Ease Off in Man United Win

Cesc Fabregas expressed regret for telling his Como players to slow down near the end of their 4-1 win over Manchester United.

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Big win at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia

Como earned a famous 4-1 win over Manchester United on Wednesday evening, but head coach Cesc Fabregas left the match with mixed feelings. The Champions League upstarts dominated the three time European champions, putting extra pressure on Red Devils boss Michael Carrick.

Nico Paz delivered a sparkling man of the match performance for the Serie A side. He scored two goals to lead the way. Tasos Douvikas and Jacobo Ramon also found the net, helping Como build a commanding 4-0 lead at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia.

Regret over late goal

Despite the strong display, Fabregas was bothered by how the game ended. Manchester United substitute Joshua Zirkzee scored a consolation goal in stoppage time, which ruined the clean sheet for the host team.

The former Arsenal and Chelsea star revealed that he was responsible for the shift in intensity. With a match against Sassuolo coming up on Saturday, Fabregas had asked his players to slow down and manage their energy. He even told Douvikas to stay in the middle and stop running in the closing stages.

"I believe that tactically speaking the team played a rather good game," Fabregas said. "I regret maybe the last 10 minutes when I was the one telling the team to slow down the pace because there was another game and maybe with a 4-0 lead they could have managed something."

He added that the stoppage time goal hurt him because he is usually the first person to push his team to fight until the very end.

What it means for the next game

Como will look to build on their performance in Serie A, while Manchester United look to bounce back in domestic action.

Como vs Sassuolo (Serie A, Sat, 24 Oct): Como win 60%, draw 22%, Sassuolo win 18%; expected goals 2.02 to 1.02. Our safest pick: Como or Draw.

Manchester United vs AFC Bournemouth (Premier League, Sun, 25 Oct): Manchester United win 49%, draw 24%, AFC Bournemouth win 27%; expected goals 1.85 to 1.32. Our safest pick: Over 1.5 goals.