Como 2-0 Juventus: Nico Paz puts toothless Old Lady to the torch | OneFootball

Juventus suffered their first defeat of the season, as they weren’t able to tame an energetic Como side backed by the Sinigaglia crowd.

Due to the many absentees, Igor Tudor dropped his favourite 3-4-2-1 formation and adopted a 4-3-3 lineup spearheaded by Jonathan David, with Kenan Yildiz and Francisco Conceicao on the wings.

Manuel Locatelli slotted in between Teun Koopmeiners and Khephren Thuram in the middle of the park.

Como take an early lead

The Bianconeri couldn’t have imagined a worse start, as they found themselves trailing after just three minutes.

Nico Paz played a short corner kick, and following a give-and-go with Lucas Da Cunha, he sent a lovely inswinger to the back post that found Marc-Oliver Kempf. The German defender escaped Pierre Kalulu to latch onto the ball with venom, leaving Michele Di Gregorio with absolutely no chance.

Nico Paz and Manuel Locatelli (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Afterwards, Juventus gradually grew with the match, becoming more dominant in the middle of the park. However, they repeatedly scuffed their chances inside the box.

While David had managed to tuck the ball in from close range, the goal was disallowed for an offside on Koopmeiners, so the visitors headed to the break trailing 0-1.

Nico Paz punishes Juventus with fabulous strike

After the interval, the Bianconeri kept pushing forward, but they became increasingly frustrated as the match wore on.

Koopmeiners came the closest to scoring after receiving a cross from Cambiaso, but he couldn’t put enough power behind his header to trouble Jean Butez.

Desperate for an equaliser, the visitors pushed forward with numbers in the 79th minute, but they were harried on the counterattack by Paz who expertly found the back far corner to round off a superb outing with a sublime finish.

The Old Lady’s response to the second goal was non-existent, as Tudor’s men succumbed to their first defeat of the season, and will now have to negotiate a Champions League clash at the Santiago Bernabeu while low on confidence.

Como 2-0 Juventus

Goals: 4′ Kempf (C), 79′ Nico Paz (C)

Como (4-3-3): Butez; Smolcic (86′ Posch), Kempf, Diego Carlos (46′ Ramon), Alberto Moreno (67′ Valle); da Cunha, Perrone, Caqueret (67′ Douvikas); Paz, Morata (91′ Van der Brempt), Vojvoda.

Juventus (4-3-3):  Di Gregorio; Kalulu (86′ Joao Mario), Rugani, Kelly, Cambiaso (86′ Kostic); Koopmeiners (75′ Vlahovic), Locatelli (75′ McKennie), Thuram; Conceiçao, David, Yildiz.

Yellow cards: 10′ Kelly (J), 11′ Alberto Moreno (C), 21′ Smolcic (C), 34′ Diego Carlos (C)