Former Tottenham star Dele Alli destroyed by Cesc Fabregas after red card 10 minutes into Serie A debut

Former Tottenham star Dele Alli destroyed by Cesc Fabregas after red card 10 minutes into Serie A debut

Como head coach Cesc Fabregas hammered former Tottenham star Dele Alli after his player was sent off just 10 minutes into his debut for the Serie A outfit, although he certainly had sympathy from fans.

The ex-England international joined Como on a free transfer in January and came onto the pitch with 81 minutes on the clock in Saturday night’s clash against AC Milan, where he was facing his old Spurs colleague Kyle Walker.

It was his first appearance for any team in almost two years, last playing in February 2023 while on the books of Turkish side Besiktas.

However, Alli‘s outing was short-lived return as it turned into a nightmare when he was initially shown a yellow card after catching former Chelsea midfielder and current Milan star Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the back of the ankle.

After the initial booking, referee Matteo Marchetti then decided to upgrade it to a red following a VAR review, despite Walker doing his best to defend his former teammate.

Como were trailing 2-1 at the time, with former Arsenal midfielder Fabregas turning to the former Tottenham playmaker to find the goal that could have secured a point for his side.

Instead, Fabregas was left raging at the 28-year-old and had very little sympathy for his player, describing the incident involving Loftus-Cheek as a ‘tackle that hurts to watch’ in his post-match press conference.

In a post-match interview with DAZN, Fabregas admitted that Alli ‘perhaps didn’t deserve his opportunity’, having only actually trained with the Como squad for a fortnight as he tries to resurrect his career.

Speaking after the game, Fabregas said: “It was at that moment when Milan went 2-1 up and Sergi Roberto was meant to come on, but I’d prefer to give him another two weeks to train so he can be ready to start against Empoli.

“Dele Alli is a player who can score goals, he perhaps didn’t deserve this opportunity because he has only been working with us for two weeks and has a lot to improve. It is a grave mistake, one that we should not see from a player of his experience.

“It was a clear red card, there’s nothing to be said about that, he left the team down to 10 men during a crucial moment when we were pushing for 2-2. That is the most negative thing about this evening, but we keep going.”