United suffer ugly defeat in beautiful Italian surrounds

Champions League: Como (Paz 2, 57, Douvikas 49, Ramon 76) Manchester United 1 (Zirkzee 90+1)

In sight of the Alps, a boat ride from George Clooney’s villa, Manchester United will hope, in what has been a terrible start to the season, that things do not get any worse.

They can’t – for the team’s prospects, and Michael Carrick’s job security, because witnessed here by Lake Como was a humiliation of the three-times European champions by Cesc Fàbregas’s competition debutants, as United suffered their worst defeat in continental football since 1994.

By 57 minutes this was over, as Como were 3-0 ahead, and Nico Paz had destroyed Carrick’s men with a scintillating display featuring two goals and the assist for Tasos Douvikas’s strike.

When Como attacked and defended it was as a unit supremely drilled by Fàbregas. Carrick, on this and the evidence of only two wins all term, is a coach struggling at elite level.

Como’s supremacy in the most famous victory of their 119 years came despite having just 62 Champions League appearances to United’s 242. Or, more simply, Como’s men against United’s boys.

At a sold-out Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, with a capacity of 13,602, the visitors went down to a club whose tagline is “the most beautiful football in the most beautiful location”. For United, though, this was an ugly night in Lombardy.

Disaster hit two minutes in. Carrick’s men snoozed, allowing a Paz curler from the right to beat Senne Lammens, and the local faithful partied.

This was a whole 60 seconds longer than Atlético Madrid were kept out in last week’s 2-0 defeat, as United became the first English team to concede inside two minutes in consecutive major European matches.

The opener came moments after Diogo Dalot spurned a simple opening to dizzy the hosts: Matheus Cunha flipped the ball to his right-back, Dalot’s touch was awful, yet after possession was retained, he ballooned wide.

This was United’s current form crystallised at each end of the pitch: a basic lack of quality. When Paz left Noussair Mazraoui gasping, as the No 10 careered along Como’s right, another example was on show. Cunha, running back, could not stop Paz and if his cross had found a colleague, and not Mason Mount, Lammens might have been beaten again.

Mount lined up alongside Andrey Santos in a midfield that had Cunha, Youri Tielemans and Bryan Mbeumo ahead, with Bruno Fernandes again a false-ish nine.

Como hogged the ball throughout so any United foray needed to threaten Jean Butez’s goal: Mbeumo’s corner from the right patently did not when failing to clear a first defender.

Como had United’s number, penetrating at will, and when the ball was moved into the area and Martin Baturina went to grass, a penalty was claimed. Sven Jablonski, the referee, turned this down.

After a near 24-hour deluge the rain did finally stop but Como’s blue wave, when attacking or closing down, continued relentlessly. United’s press was piecemeal, maybe involving one or two, but was never a group act, unlike Fabregas’s players who hunted the ball in packs.

One more scare in a half studded with these came when Douvikas went clear, then down under Lammens’ attentions, but he was flagged offside. United were impotent and at the interval, Carrick had to earn his corn. In missing nine players due to injury, suspension or illness, there was some mitigation.

Mathijs de Ligt, partnering Harry Maguire in central defence, being thrown straight in for a first appearance in 325 days after a serious back injury illustrated Carrick’s straitened resources. This, too, was shown by Tynan Thompson and Jack Fletcher being on the bench, after each played for United under-19s in the afternoon’s 2-1 Youth Cup defeat to Como.

Carrick’s move was to take off Cunha and Santos for Carlos Baleba and Amad Diallo in a reshuffle that took Tielemans into central midfield, Fernandes to No 10, and Mbeumo leading the line.

The net result: Como’s second. Once more, it was too simple. Paz enjoyed a universe of time to thread in Douvikas, and he ran on and powered past Lammens.

This was a mere four minutes into the second half and thoughts turned to the clock ticking on Carrick’s tenure, before Como netted twice more.

First came Paz’s second, this time the Argentinian skating along the right and beating Lammens for 3-0. Then, on 76 minutes, Como waltzed through for a fourth time.

Up rose Jacobo Ramón to head home Kaiki Bruno’s cross from the left and United’s disintegration was complete, many of their travelling fans already heading for the exit and local hostelries to try and drink away the pain of what they had witnessed. Josh Zirkzee’s stoppage-time goal was not even a consolation.

By the end Carrick was as broken as his team. Next up for United is Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Sunday. Even if Carrick survives until then, who knows how much longer he will remain after this. – Guardian