A red card flips a tight game
One flash of red turned a calm night by the lake into chaos. Como were seconds from a signature home win when a late sending off opened the door for Genoa, and Caleb Ekuban stepped through to seal a 1-1 draw that felt like a victory for the visitors and a gut punch for the hosts in the opening weeks of the Serie A season.
Under the floodlights at the Stadio Sinigaglia on September 15, Como struck first and early. In the 13th minute, Argentine midfielder Nico Paz delivered a stunning finish that lit up the lakeside venue and set the tone. It wasn’t just the goal; it was the confidence that followed. Como settled, controlled the tempo, and looked comfortable shutting down space between the lines.
Genoa had plenty of the ball in spells but little penetration to show for it. The visitors moved it side to side, probing for a gap that rarely appeared. Como were compact and disciplined, the midfield tight and the back line stepping up together. When Genoa did manage to get into dangerous areas, the final pass lacked bite.
The first half stretched into a pattern that suited Como. They didn’t need to dominate possession. They needed to pick the right moments. Paz kept drifting into pockets, connecting play and buying time, while the hosts threatened on the break without over-committing.
After the restart, Genoa raised the urgency. The passes were quicker, the runs sharper. They loaded the wide channels and asked more of Como’s full-backs. Even so, the hosts still looked in control of the details that decide tight games: second balls, shape, and the rhythm of the press. As the clock ticked, it felt like the kind of night where one goal would be enough.
Then came minute 88. Como defender Jacobo Ramón was shown a red card, and everything tilted. In an instant, the hosts’ tidy structure had to be rewritten, and the visitors sensed it. The noise shifted. Genoa pushed centre-backs up, committed bodies, and turned every delivery into a test.
In stoppage time, the pressure finally broke through. At 90’+2, Ekuban found the equaliser the visitors had chased all half, a payoff for relentless late pressure and a moment that drained the air from a home crowd already tasting three points. For Genoa’s Ghanaian forward, it was a poacher’s reward and a lifeline for a team still searching for a first win.
- 13’ — Nico Paz fires Como ahead with a superb strike.
- 88’ — Jacobo Ramón sees red, leaving Como down to ten.
- 90’+2 — Caleb Ekuban equalises, rescuing a point for Genoa.
Why it matters
The draw leaves Como on 4 points from three matches (1-1-1), a solid start that could have been even better with a few calmer minutes at the end. Genoa, at 0-2-1 with 2 points, are still winless but can frame this as a step in the right direction—spirit, pressure, and payoff when it counted.
Games turn on rhythm and risk. For 87 minutes, Como set the rhythm. They managed transitions, denied space between the lines, and gave Genoa’s creators little joy. The sending off forced a different script—no time to reset, no margin for control. Corners, crosses, knockdowns: the visitors took the chaos and made it theirs.
Tactically, Como’s mid-block worked. The distances between defense and midfield stayed tight, and the first line triggered the press sensibly rather than chasing. Paz’s role was central—receive under pressure, link the play, and switch angles to slip past Genoa’s shape. When Como broke, they did it with clarity, not numbers, protecting the lead.
Genoa’s shift was more about persistence than reinvention. They widened the pitch, got full-backs higher, and kept flooding the area late. The knock-on effect was pressure stacking: throw-ins turned into corners, corners into second phases, and the tempo never dipped after the red card. Ekuban’s finish was the headline; the build-up was about refusing to let the game die.
The human angle is just as blunt. Ramón’s red card will sting. He had defended well for most of the night, part of a line that kept Genoa honest. One decision, one flash, and the narrative turned. Como will spend the next week talking about game management—when to slow it, when to clear it, and how to tidy a match that is almost won.
For Genoa, the takeaway is belief. Not pretty, but stubborn. When a team has no wins, the table starts to nag. Late goals change that mood in the dressing room. They give managers proof their changes mattered and players a feeling that the next one will finally tilt their way.
The setting also mattered. The Sinigaglia is intimate, the crowd close, the margins small. Como worked that well for most of the night, finding energy in the noise and calm in their shape. But in those frantic final minutes, the atmosphere turned into fuel for the visitors, who used every whistle and restart to keep the ball coming back in.
Player threads? Paz looks like a bright spot—composure in tight areas and a clean strike for the opener. Ekuban did what experienced forwards do late: anticipate chaos, hold position, and finish. Between them sits the lesson of the match: control wins you most of the story, but discipline decides the last page.
Three games in, the table is still wet paint, but the signals are clear. Como have a competitive base, a midfield that can manage pressure, and enough quality to trouble established sides. Genoa have fight and a target man who can flip a result with one touch. Both need polish in the final third; both will spend time this week drilling late-game scenarios.
It felt like two points lost for Como and a point gained for Genoa, and both can be true. On another night without the red card, the hosts probably close it out. On this one, a split decision, a surge of pressure, and a striker’s instinct turned a tidy win into a lesson—and a draw.
