“Sometimes football cannot be explained,” Cesc Fabregas said after Como and AS Roma finished 0-0 at the Sinigaglia. He felt the first 60 minutes were his best against Roma since arriving in Italy, but the point he kept coming back to was the same, Como did not make enough of the extra man after Donyell Malen's 53rd-minute red card.

Como’s missed chance

Fabregas was not trying to sell the draw as a disaster. He said the opening hour was his best spell against Roma in Italy, and he also said Como were attacking well enough after the dismissal to win it. The frustration came from the final half-hour, when the hosts had the extra man but did not move the ball fast enough to turn control into a goal.

The state of the match makes that complaint hard to dismiss. Malen was sent off in the 53rd minute, Roma were down to ten men for more than 30 minutes, and Como still left without a finish. Fabregas added that his side did not concede counterattacks while pushing forward, which is one reason this felt more like a wasted chance than a collapse.

Nico Paz kept showing up around the box, with 4 shots and 2 key passes, while Como also kept a clean sheet. On another night, that should have been enough to decide a game like this.

Roma's response after the red card

Gian Piero Gasperini took a different line, saying Roma had the feeling they could go ahead even after going down to ten men. He also praised Paulo Dybala, who he said was outstanding in the second half, and pointed to Pierluigi Gollini's 4-save debut as part of the reason Como did not find a breakthrough.

Gasperini also argued that Malen’s red card made a beautiful match uglier. The exact reading of the dismissal is still disputed, but the record itself is not, and once the red came, the game became far harder for Roma to play in the way they wanted.

Fabregas had clearly studied Inter before the match, saying Simone Inzaghi’s side were the team that hurt Gasperini the most. Even with that preparation, Como ended up with the sort of result managers usually file under opportunity missed, not performance rejected.

The first goalless draw of the Serie A season arrived at the Sinigaglia, and Como were the side left wondering how they did not make the extra man count. They return to league action still carrying the memory of a match they felt they had enough control to win.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →