Como dispatched Venezia 1-0 at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, with the entire contest pivoted on a five-minute sequence early in the first half — a VAR cancellation, two yellow cards, and a penalty award — that left the visitors structurally undone before the hour mark.
The decisive sequence commenced at the 28th minute, when a Venezia penalty was ruled out by VAR. Venezia midfielder Simon Sohm, who had been involved in that incident, then picked up a yellow card at 39'. Two minutes later, Juan Jesus followed him into the book. The psychological and tactical damage of those two cautions — both arriving before half-time, both inflicted on a side already carrying eight defeats from nine outings — was compounded almost immediately when Como were awarded a penalty of their own. Como midfielder Lucas Da Cunha converted from the spot at 43' to make it 1-0, and that was the only goal the afternoon required.
Da Cunha's penalty was not merely the opener; it was the decisive goal, the winner, and the clearest expression of a Como side that has learned to extract maximum damage from the moments opponents gift them. Fàbregas's team entered this fixture on the back of three consecutive victories without conceding more than two goals across the entire run. The spot-kick conversion extended that sequence and kept the defensive record intact: across the last five matches including this one, Como have conceded just two goals in total.
Venezia's afternoon was shaped as much by what did not happen as by what did. The cancelled penalty at 28' was the moment that might have altered the contest entirely — a Venezia goal at that stage, against a Como side yet to take the lead, would have demanded a different sort of match. Instead, the VAR intervention ruled it out, and within fifteen minutes Venezia had two players on cautions and were a goal behind. Davide Nicola's side had arrived at the Sinigaglia having taken three points from their last five matches, and the structural frailty that produced eight defeats in nine Serie A games was evident in how quickly the afternoon unravelled once the penalty was overturned. The five substitutions Nicola made between the 55th and 78th minutes were the adjustments of a coach attempting to stabilise a situation that had already been settled.
For Como, the table context sharpens the significance. Fàbregas's outfit carried 20 points into this match from nine games, and the victory adds three more. The form trajectory is worth noting: across the last five matches including Sunday, Como have won four and drawn one, conceding only twice. The last three — including this result — are three wins from three with a single goal conceded. That is the trajectory of a side that has moved beyond the novelty of its early-season form and is now delivering it with the consistency of a settled unit.
Venezia, across the same five-match window including this defeat, have one win and four losses, and their last three matches have brought no points and no goals scored. The gap between the two clubs' trajectories is not a matter of individual quality on any given afternoon — it is a matter of one team knowing how to capitalise on the moments the game offers, and another that cannot yet do the same.
A cancelled penalty, two yellow cards, and one converted spot-kick: Como needed nothing more, and that, in itself, is the story of where this club stands right now.