Como made history in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, November 4, after thrashing French side Lens 9-1 away from home, with Anastasios Douvikas scoring a hat-trick and 18-year-old Matteo Papaccioli finding the net on his senior debut.
Cesc Fabregas’ men delivered a remarkable performance at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, scoring nine goals to record one of the competition’s biggest wins and extend their winning run in all competitions to six matches.
Douvikas opened the scoring in the seventh minute, turning home a cross after Máximo Perrone knocked down Luis Milla’s delivery from a short corner.
The Greek forward doubled Como’s lead in the 32nd minute, finishing from close range after Álex Valle directed Nico Paz’s delivery across goal.
Paz made it 3-0 five minutes before half-time, firing into the roof of the net from a tight angle after receiving a pass from Douvikas. The Argentine celebrated by displaying a shirt bearing the image of Jesús de Miguel, a footballer who died earlier in the week following an on-field accident.
Como maintained their dominance after the break, with Lucas Da Cunha scoring the fourth goal two minutes into the second half following a one-two with Paz.
Marc-Oliver Kempf headed home Milla’s cross in the 53rd minute before Douvikas completed his hat-trick four minutes later, calmly beating goalkeeper Robin Risser after running on to Paz’s pass.
Mattia Liberali made it 7-0 in the 62nd minute, finishing from an angle, before Ruben Aguilar pulled one back for Lens three minutes later with a volley from a corner.
Martin Baturina restored Como’s seven-goal advantage before Papaccioli completed the rout in stoppage time. The 18-year-old initially had his effort ruled out for offside, but VAR overturned the decision to confirm his first senior-team goal.
The victory marked a historic night for Como, who became the first team to score nine goals in an away match in the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Arsenal moved up to third in the Champions League table after defeating Slavia Prague 2-1 in the Czech Republic.
Noni Madueke opened the scoring in the ninth minute after Viktor Gyökeres released him behind the defence.
Gyökeres doubled Arsenal’s advantage in the 38th minute after combining with Declan Rice and Mikel Merino before finishing from a tight angle.
Slavia Prague increased the pressure after the break and eventually reduced the deficit through Wiktor Nowak in the 90th minute. However, Arsenal held on to secure all three points.
The victory took Arsenal to 10 points from four matches and extended their unbeaten away run in the Champions League to a club-record 10 games.
UEFA Champions League Matchday Four Results
Tuesday, November 3
Galatasaray 2-0 VfB Stuttgart
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 Sporting CP
Feyenoord 0-3 Inter Milan
Bodø/Glimt 0-0 Lille
Atlético Madrid 0-2 Bayern Munich
Villarreal 0-6 Paris Saint-Germain
Barcelona 3-0 Aston Villa
Manchester United 3-2 Roma
LASK 4-0 Slovan Bratislava
Wednesday, November 4
Fenerbahçe 3-2 Liverpool
AEK Athens 2-3 Real Madrid
Lens 1-9 Como
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Real Betis
RB Leipzig 2-3 Manchester City
Porto 4-1 Napoli
PSV Eindhoven 1-2 Club Brugge
Slavia Prague 1-2 Arsenal
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