Tasos Douvikas' double propelled in-form Como to a 2-0 victory over Sassuolo on Saturday.
Como 2-0 Sassuolo: No Paz, no problem as Douvikas grabs a double
Nico Paz did not feature from the bench, but Como did not miss their star man as Tasos Douvikas netted twice against Sassuolo.
Three days on from their rampant 4-1 win over Manchester United in the Champions League, Cesc Fabregas' team made it back-to-back Serie A victories.
Nico Paz, who was the star of the show against Man Utd, did not come off the bench for Como at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, but Fabregas' men did not need their star player.
Instead, Douvikas did the damage as Como closed the gap, at least temporarily, on Serie A leaders Inter.
Lucas Da Cunha strayed offside, resulting in an early Como goal being ruled out.
Douvikas struck the post with a deflected attempt, before Sassuolo had a goal disallowed when Kieron Bowie was flagged offside as he teed up Darryl Bakola.
Jayden Addai, Luis Milla and Jacobo Ramon were brought on at half-time by Fabregas, and those changes had the desired impact, with Como taking a 49th-minute lead when Maxence Caqueret set up Douvikas to finish.
Douvikas doubled up on the hour after latching onto Kaiki's cutback, wrapping up another win for high-flying Como.
Douvikas rediscovers home comforts
It was a surprise to see Fabregas decide not to turn to Paz at half-time, but he clearly felt there was enough quality on the pitch to get the job done for Como.
Douvikas proved his point, as he netted for the fourth straight game in all competitions. It is the first time in his career he has achieved that while playing in one of Europe's big five leagues.
These strikes were his first in a home Serie A match for the first time since last March (against Pisa); his previous six goals had all come on the road.
Douvikas is just the second player, and first non-Italian, to score 20 or more goals for Como in Serie A (21), after Vittorio Ghiandi (32).
And though Fabregas had to make some changes at half-time, Como were ultimately comfortable. They generated chances worth 1.65 expected goals, while Sassuolo only registered 0.24 xG.
Como are now on 17 points, which is a record for the club after eight matchdays of a Serie A campaign. They have also scored 14 goals, their best return after their first eight matches (also 14 in 1950-51).
