Fabregas Delighted With First Serie A Win Against 'One Of The Best European Teams'

Written By Onyeka Daniel

Despite AC Milan’s win over reigning champions, Inter Milan in the Derby, Como’s win over Atalanta at the Gewiss Stadium on Tuesday, in a rescheduled fixture can be termed as the surprise result of the fifth round of matches in the Italian Serie A.

More Details

And for their coach, Cesc Fabregas, he was delighted with his Como side after their encouraging 3-2 victory away against Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta, who the Spaniard feels are ‘one of the best teams in Europe’. The game had originally been scheduled to kick off 24 hours earlier, on Monday evening.

LATEST POSTS

But it was called-off, called back on again and then definitively postponed after torrential rain in the Bergamo region at the start of the week. Ahead of the Match, the two managers had already revealed their starting line-ups on Monday night, and though they were able to make changes if they wanted to.

But, they both stuck with the same lineup on Tuesday. Atalanta had the best chance of the opening exchanges through Mateo Retegui, who steered an effort on target from the centre of the penalty area after some neat work from Charles De Ketelaere. Emil Audero did well to steer it behind for a corner.

Atalanta would find the lead through Zappacosta with 18 minutes on the clock. A Raoul Bellanova was headed clear to the edge of the area, where the Italian was waiting to dispatch an improvised half-volley into the near corner of the net for 1–0. From there, it was Como who had the better chances of the first half.

Marco Carnesecchi had to be alert to keep a couple of Cutrone efforts out, while Sergi Roberto threatened with an effort heading for the bottom corner from the edge of the area just shy of the half-hour mark. Como ended the first 45 minutes with five shots, three on target, compared to Atalanta’s two.

Then, three goals within the first 12 minutes of the second half sent Como on their way to their first Serie A victory of the season at the Gewiss Stadium. Ademola Lookman scored a late consolation goal from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game.

“We played a good game, we created a lot of chances and we managed to put them under pressure,” Fabregas told DAZN in his post match interview. “We prepared the game hoping to hurt one of the best teams in Europe. They are a Champions League team.

“I had belief, and today I feel it even more. When you come here and put in a performance like that, it is really nice and gives you a lot of confidence.” Fabregas went into more detail about what part of the performance pleased him. I’m happy with everything.”

“We deserved even more. We worked on tactics and technique, but I ask the boys, more than anything, to have personality. I felt for them because the results haven’t come yet, despite our best efforts.”

He went on to explain how Como got the better of Atalanta.“We caused difficulties for Kolasinac with Strefezza and on the other side through Alberto Moreno’s runs. They go man-to-man, but had difficulty with our dribbling. We played vertically to try and exploit the depth.

“We did well in the game. We’re all working well together. This is just the beginning.” He further added. They will be hoping to build on this result when they face Hellas Verona at home, this weekend. In a related development, French centre-back Raphael Varane has announced his retirement from football only two months after joining Cesc Fabregas’ side.

Read Also: Roma CEO Resigns, A Domino Effect Of De Rossi’s Sacking

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United defender announced his retirement with an Instagram post in the early hours of today. He had joined Como on a free transfer at the end of July, but he sustained an injury only 23 minutes into his competitive debut with the Azzurri in Coppa Italia last month.

Do you have a story tip?
Kindly Email: keepup@bettitude.com

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube