Da Cunha penalty keeps Como flying as Venezia stay rooted to the foot

A narrow win, a familiar pattern

Como beat Venezia 1-0 at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia on Sunday, 1 November 2026, turning first-half dominance into a fourth straight Serie A victory. Lucas Da Cunha scored the only goal of the matchday 10 fixture, converting a penalty two minutes before half-time, and the hosts then defended a slender lead through a second half in which they created the better chances without finding the second goal that would have settled it.

Como went into the game fifth on 20 points after Tuesday's 3-1 win at Torino, described as the best start in the club's history, with a Champions League trip to Lens to come on Wednesday. Venezia arrived bottom with three points after a 2-0 midweek defeat by Inter, and left still searching for a first away point of the season.

Dominance without a second goal

Como dominated the ball from the start, holding 76 per cent possession in the opening 18 minutes, but found Venezia's five-man defence hard to break down. Kaiki headed over from a Luis Milla corner, Tasos Douvikas had a shot blocked after a Nico Paz through ball, and Martin Baturina blazed over from the edge of the box.

Venezia goalkeeper Filip Stankovic was soon busy, getting down well to keep out Da Cunha's low drive towards the bottom corner, then needing treatment after the save.

A tale of two penalties

The decisive passage arrived in the final quarter of the first half, and it turned on two penalty incidents. On 28 minutes, Venezia thought they had a penalty when Milla was penalised for handball. After an on-field review, referee Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi overturned her decision, and the visitors' brief hope of an unexpected lead disappeared.

Como kept pushing. Stankovic produced a superb reflex save to deny Marc-Oliver Kempf's effort from a rebound, Milla fired just over from the edge of the area, and Douvikas headed narrowly wide from Baturina's cross. The breakthrough came moments later. Juan Jesus slid in on Douvikas inside the box and was booked for conceding the penalty, and Da Cunha sent a left-footed spot kick into the top-left corner in the 43rd minute.

It was Da Cunha's first goal of the season. Venezia almost levelled before the break, but Thorir Helgason's shot from the right side of the area flew just past the far post, and Como went into half-time with a lead their pressure had earned.

Second half: control, then nerves

Stankovic kept Venezia in the game after the restart, tipping away Baturina's curling effort after the Croatian had danced past several challenges. He was alert again to Baturina's low drive in the 48th minute, as the second half started in much the same vein, with Como on top.

Venezia coach Davide Nicola made changes before the hour, bringing on Kike Perez and John Yeboah, then Toma Basic and Richie Sagrado. The substitutes livened Venezia up. Yeboah went close twice from distance, and Kike Perez fired high and wide. At the other end, Yan Couto had the best chance to settle it, dragging a shot from the edge of the area just wide.

Como changed Nico Paz for Maxence Caqueret, Da Cunha for Mattia Liberali and Samuele Ricci for Maximo Perrone in the 74th minute. Kaiki was shown a yellow card for diving in the 86th minute, Como won a late corner but Kempf's effort went just wide, and Venezia's late corner came to nothing when Basic shot from range without troubling Jean Butez.

What it means

The final statistics told the story of the afternoon. Como held 66 per cent of the possession and had 19 shots to Venezia's seven, with eight corners to one, yet the margin stayed at a single goal. Flashscore named Como midfielder Luis Milla as man of the match, a fitting recognition for a player at the heart of the hosts' control.

The table consequences were stark. Como moved to 23 points from 10 games, with seven wins, two draws and one defeat, returning to fourth place, two points behind leaders Lazio. Venezia remained rooted to the foot of the table on three points, with one win and nine defeats, having now lost nine of their 10 games this season.

For Como, the challenge now is to carry league form into Europe, with the trip to Lens on Wednesday offering a different kind of test. For Venezia, Friday's home game against Udinese is another chance to stop a slide that has left them adrift at the bottom. On this evidence, they will need more than resilience: they defended with discipline and had a goalkeeper in inspired form, but they rarely threatened enough to turn a narrow defeat into a point.