Como teen Diao scores again to help his team to a 2-0 win at Fiorentina

By Canadian Press on February 16, 2025.

MILAN (AP) — Teenager Assane Diao could very well prove to be Como’s savior.

The 19-year-old scored again on Sunday to set relegation-threatened Como on its way to a 2-0 win at Fiorentina in Serie A.

It was Diao’s fourth goal in his seven matches since joining from Real Betis last month and the win lifted Cesc Fàbregas’ team five points above the drop zone.

Fiorentina was four points below fourth-placed Lazio.

Defending champion Inter Milan can go top of the Serie A table with a victory at fierce rival Juventus later Sunday in a match that could see the Thuram brothers line up against each other.

Current Serie A leader Napoli drew again on Saturday.

Como broke the deadlock four minutes before halftime with a rapid counterattack. A Fiorentina free kick was headed out of the area when Diao gathered the ball deep inside his own half and raced forward to beat home goalkeeper David De Gea one-on-one.

Nico Paz doubled Como’s lead in the 66th with a shot that took a slight deflection to curl in off the top of the left post.

Game-changing moment

Roma was without injured star forward Paulo Dybala but managed to win 1-0 at 10-man Parma.

The match changed in the 29th minute when teenage Parma defender Giovanni Leoni fouled Roma’s Matías Soulé. The referee initially awarded a penalty to the visitors and showed Leoni a yellow card.

However, the video assistant referee confirmed that contact was outside the area so the penalty was rescinded but Leoni’s card was changed to a red as the 18-year-old had prevented a clear scoring opportunity.

To make matters worse for Parma, Soulé dinked the resulting free kick over the wall and into the top right corner.

Roma was nine points below the top four, while Parma remained a point from safety.

Empoli occupies that last place of safety despite losing 3-0 at Udinese for its eighth defeat in its past 10 matches.

Alessandro Nesta returned as coach of bottom club Monza last week — two months after he was fired — and managed to end his team’s four-match losing streak with a 0-0 draw against Lecce.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Daniella Matar, The Associated Press

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