Nico Paz was instrumental as Como blew Manchester United away with a 4-1 win at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia in the Champions League.

The 22-year-old got the ball rolling in the second minute and finished the game with a brace and an assist after a stellar performance.

Tasos Douvikas and Jacobo Ramon were also both on target in the thumping victory, which piled further pressure on Michael Carrick, whose side are now winless in their last seven games in all competitions.

Diogo Dalot passed up a presentable chance with 84 seconds on the clock; having initially miscontrolled the ball, he recovered but bent his shot wide of the far post.

And 34 seconds later, Como made them pay for that miss. The hosts went straight up the other end, and Paz curled a stunning strike into the left side of the net.

United failed to muster a response, and Como finished the half on top. Douvikas had the beating of Matthijs de Ligt – making his first appearance in 325 days – and fired a tight-angled effort at Senne Lammens, who brought the forward down on his next attack, but the offside flag meant no penalty was awarded.

Como picked up where they left off after the break as they easily cut through United's defence in the 49th minute, with Paz laying it off to Douvikas, who profited from a De Ligt stumble to brilliantly lob Lammens.

And things went from bad to worse for United 57 minutes in. Paz pounced on Carlos Baleba's blind pass, and raced down the right to finish into the bottom-left corner.

United's urgency grew after that, with substitute Amad Diallo finding space on the edge of the box to test Jean Butez with a dipping strike that was tipped over the crossbar.

Como soon wrestled back momentum, though, and Ramon finished off a wonderful team move after Kaiki chipped a lovely cross into the box in the 76th minute. 

Joshua Zirkzee netted a late consolation for United, plucking Amad's cross out of the air before scuffing his strike through Butez's legs in the 91st minute.

Three points on this European night at the Sinigaglia https://t.co/OvyDK1kcoV

— Como1907 (@Como_1907) October 21, 2026

Paz lights up the stage as United's woes go on

Como's starting XI had made a combined 62 Champions League appearances (prior to this match), compared to the 242 in United's starting line-up, but based on performance, it was not evident.

Cesc Fabregas' side came flying out of the blocks, and their early goal means United have now conceded two goals in the opening two minutes of Champions League games this season, already their most in this time period in a single edition.

In fact, they are the first English team to concede in the first two minutes of consecutive major European matches.

Paz caused all their problems, as he became just the fourth player to be directly involved in at least three goals in a Champions League game against United, and the youngest to do so (aged 22 years and 43 days).

The Argentinian is also the second-youngest South American player to find the net in competition against United, after Lionel Messi (21y 337d in the 2009 final).

Como have settled into the Champions League brilliantly, becoming the first Italian side to win their first two home games since Lazio in 1999-00.

For United, though, it leaves more questions as their torrid away form in UEFA's premier competition; they have won just one of their last 11 games on the road in the Champions League (D3 L7).

They mustered 1.05 expected goals (xG) from 13 shots (helped by their last goal) to Como's 2.04, with Fabregas' side getting eight of their 11 attempts on target.

And it was not the only big-scoring match in the early kick-offs on Wednesday, with Galatasaray giving up a lead and then coming from behind to earn a 4-2 victory over Lille.