Como strengthened their grip on a Champions League qualification spot heading into the international break with a dominant 5-0 victory over Pisa in Serie A on Sunday, moving three points clear of Juventus after a ruthless attacking display inspired by Assane Diao, Anastasios Douvikas, Martin Baturina, Nico Paz and Maxi Perrone.
Cesc Fabregas’s side arrived in strong form, buoyed by a four-match winning run in the league and six games unbeaten across all competitions.
Diao, Jesus Rodriguez and Douvikas all returned to the starting attack alongside Nico Paz, while Pisa also rotated their lineup after claiming just a second league win of the season last weekend.
Both teams were sloppy in possession early on, gifting the ball away in dangerous areas, but Pisa were the first to suffer.
A costly mistake from Stefano Moreo allowed Diao to seize possession, drive through on goal and calmly slot past goalkeeper Nicolas after seven minutes to open the scoring.
Diao was involved again as Como doubled their lead before the half-hour mark. The Senegal forward cut in from the right, created space onto his left foot and delivered a precise ball into the box for Douvikas, who finished instinctively with a first-time strike.
Como added a third early in the second half when Baturina, introduced earlier due to an injury to Jesus Rodriguez, produced a composed low finish from the edge of the area, finding the bottom corner for his sixth goal of the season.
Pisa did manage to threaten, but their frustrations grew as two goals were disallowed for offside.
Substitute Filip Stojilkovic first saw a finish ruled out, before Henrik Meister also had an effort chalked off after Stojilkovic was judged offside in the build-up.
Paz then got in on the act, scoring his first goal at the Stadio Sinigaglia since October by sweeping home Alberto Moreno’s cross from the left to make it 4-0
The scoring was completed late on when Nicolas Kuhn drove to the byline and squared for Perrone, who tapped in from close range to seal a resounding 5-0 win.
