Como's Champions League hopes take hit with loss to Sassuolo in Serie A

[p]It was clear to see that the visitors were the only side with something still left to play for this season, as the European hopefuls monopolised possession in the first half, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sassuolo/QDdvI0zl/"]Sassuolo[/a] happy to sit back and absorb pressure.[/p][p]Como suffered a first defeat in almost two months when they gave up a two-goal lead to lose at home to leaders Inter last week, but with half-time approaching, they had been kept at bay by the Neroverdi and paid the price for their lack of cutting edge in ruthless fashion as Sassuolo struck twice in as many minutes.[/p][p]Fabio Grosso’s men launched a counter-attack from their own half that saw a pass upfield find [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nzola-m-bala/vD33dp4n/"]M’Bala Nzola[/a] in plenty of space,[b] and his through ball played in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/volpato-cristian/2B5YqXFG/"]Cristian Volpato[/a], with the forward lifting his first-time effort over the stranded [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/butez-jean/QHLJe7td/"]Jean Butez[/a] to give the home side the lead.[/b][/p][p][b]Just two minutes later, they were two goals to the good with Nzola going from provider to scorer when he slotted his first goal since November past Butez inside the area. [/b][/p][p][b]However, in stoppage time, the Lariani halved the deficit when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/paz-martinez-nicolas/GG6EYRT0/"]Nico Paz[/a]’s looping header found the top left-hand corner of the net to set up an intriguing second half.[/b][/p][embed guid="ddaedec2-20d3-46bd-9ac4-8753506362db" url="https://x.com/SerieA_EN/status/2045194932806201754" social-type="twitter" /][p]While they may have been pegged back, the Neroverdi would have been confident heading into the second period, given that they’re the only team in Serie A to have won every game in which they led at half-time this season.[/p][p]Butez had to be alert to deny Volpato’s effort with the hour mark approaching as Sassuolo looked to increase their lead.[/p][p]Yet with just over 20 minutes remaining, Paz came agonisingly close to doubling his tally and restoring parity when his lofted effort from close range went over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/turati-stefano/GdRRPoEK/"]Stefano Turati[/a], but the goalkeeper recovered in time to prevent the ball crossing the line.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="2e5d60c7-4a30-4dd4-9fb1-797ba51b1fc6" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="e15e72d4-b303-4e81-9cab-7f99357f3d4c" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p]Despite continuing to see the vast majority of the ball, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/como/ttyLthOA/"]Como[/a] never looked likely to find a second goal as they slipped to their first away defeat since December.[/p][p]Sassuolo have now won four of their last five home matches, as they continue to enjoy an impressive first season back in the top flight. The result sees them climb two places to ninth and back into the top half, while a frustrated Como remain fifth and could see their gap to the top four grow to five points by the end of the gameweek.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nzola-m-bala/vD33dp4n/"]M’Bala Nzola[/a] (Sassuolo)[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="cbc0ee28-bf43-471b-b15d-5dd4c365f7c1" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="5f7783b6-c834-43a6-ae85-7b60f48eab03" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/como-ttyLthOA/sassuolo-QDdvI0zl/summary/stats/?mid=YL0i6Owf"]Catch up on the match stats on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]