High on confidence after the 4-1 dismantling of Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League, Como started brightly and thought they’d gone ahead after seven minutes.
A ball over the top found Lucas Da Cunha, who raced in behind down the right flank and fired in at the near post, only to be flagged offside. Starting ahead of Arijanet Muric in the Sassuolo goal, Stefano Turati then had to be alert to keep out close-range efforts from Anastasios Douvikas and Maxence Caqueret, who is still without a goal this term.
The visitors weren’t without attacking threat of their own during the first period, and they too thought they’d broken the deadlock when Darryl Bakola sent a thumping strike into the top corner for what would have been his first goal in Italian football.
However, the teenager’s celebrations were cut short by another offside call as the sides went into the break level.
And considering Como had conceded six of their seven Serie A goals this season before the half-time whistle, a goalless scoreline was far from a disaster for the in-form hosts.
Nonetheless, Cesc Fabregas was clearly unsatisfied, making a triple change for the second half, and within four minutes of the restart, his side were ahead when Douvikas prodded home Caqueret’s drilled pass from out wide.
Armed with the momentum, Como pushed for another, and the same combination delivered again on the hour mark as Caqueret took advantage of a Sassuolo turnover to pick out Douvikas, who poked in his fifth goal in four games.
The Neroverdi were the division’s only side to both score and concede in each league match this season, but having fallen behind without a meaningful response, that record was unlikely to provide much comfort.
Ultimately, there was no fightback as Como largely remained on the front foot until the final whistle. The result sees the Lariani amass 17 points from their first eight Serie A games for the first time in club history, keeping just their second clean sheet of the campaign in the process.
Victory lifts Como up to fourth in the table, while Sassuolo slip to 14th, having managed just one win in six league games (D2, L3).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Anastasios Douvikas (Como)
