Como Beat Fiorentina 3-1 in Florence as Nico Paz Scores Again

Como climbed to fourth in Serie A on Sunday with a 3-1 win at Fiorentina, and the game was won in four first-half minutes. Mattia Liberali put Como ahead in the 32nd minute on his first start for the club, curling a finish into the far corner for his first Serie A goal. Four minutes later Alex Valle crossed from the left and Nico Paz headed the second back across David de Gea.

Fiorentina pulled one back before halftime. Marin Pongracic fired in a rebound from a corner in the 42nd minute, his first Serie A goal, and the same player then had a second goal ruled out after a four-minute VAR check for offside in stoppage time.

De Gea's error ends the contest

Any comeback ended in the 56th minute. Anastasios Douvikas shot tamely at goal, and the ball went through the legs of former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea to make it 3-1. Como, coached by Cesc Fabregas, saw the game out from there.

Fourth place, and a run ended

The win is Como's first in four matches in all competitions, after a stall that brought a 2-0 loss at Frosinone, a goalless draw at home to 10-man Roma and a 3-2 defeat at Feyenoord in the Champions League. It lifts them to fourth in Serie A. Fiorentina stay in the relegation zone on four points. Liberali's opener was also the first Serie A goal scored by an Italian for Como since Patrick Cutrone in May 2025.

An open game at both ends

The scoreline suggests control, but the first half was wide open. Before Liberali scored, David de Gea had already palmed away a Lucas Da Cunha curler and parried a Douvikas header, and he then fingertipped a Nico Paz header out from under the bar. At the other end, Fiorentina had chances of their own, and Pongracic's goal came after Jacobo Ramon cleared a header almost off the line, only for the ball to fall to the defender seven yards out.

Liberali's opener also carried a note of controversy: the counter attack started with Marc-Oliver Kempf appearing to foul Pedro Goncalves, and Fiorentina's frustration grew when the disallowed Pongracic goal was checked for four minutes while the semi-automated offside technology was not working. Even after Douvikas made it 3-1, the home side kept coming. Alieu Njie headed against the upright from close range in the 76th minute, and Niccolò Fagioli tested Como goalkeeper Jean Butez twice from the edge of the area. The match statistics matched the eye: Fiorentina had more shots, 19 to 16, and more corners, 10 to 5, but Como put more shots on target and took their chances.

Two clubs going opposite ways

Como's rise is the story behind the result. The club from Lake Como, coached by former Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas, are playing Champions League football this season and now sit fourth in Serie A, and they did it in Florence with players missing: Assane Diao and Moise Kean were already out injured, Yan Couto pulled out in the warm up, and Trevoh Chalobah went off injured early in the game. A 19 year old, Liberali, stepped into that gap and scored on his first start.

Fiorentina are at the other end of the table. Four points and a place in the relegation zone tell the story of their start, and home defeats like this one, in a game where they matched the visitors for chances, are why they are down there.