Dele Alli‘s first professional football match in 748 days lasted just nine minutes as he was shown a straight red card for a foul on Ruben Loftus-Cheek, shortly after coming off the bench to make his Como debut.
Alli was initially shown a yellow card which was upgraded to red after a VAR check during stoppage time of Como’s 2-1 defeat at AC Milan.
His former Tottenham Hotspur teammate Kyle Walker, who now plays for Milan, appeared to join the Como players in pleading with the referee not to send Alli off.
Como coach Cesc Fabregas was sent off after expressing his frustration with the referee in the minutes after Alli’s dismissal, but he offered no excuses for the attacking midfielder.
“Dele Alli is a goal scorer, I tried to give him an opportunity. A serious mistake by an experienced player. Clear red, he left the team at a time when it could have made it 2-2,” Fabregas said to DAZN.
The 28-year-old joined Como on an 18-month deal in January, with an option to extend for an additional year. Saturday was his first game since playing for Turkish club Besiktas in February 2023.
Alli was one of English soccer’s biggest talents, a member of the England team that reached the World Cup semifinals in 2018 and a star of Mauricio Pochettino’s young Tottenham side that reached the Champions League final in 2019.
However, his career has derailed in recent years and he spent six weeks in rehab in the United States in 2023 in a bid to deal with mental-health problems stemming from a traumatic childhood and after getting addicted to sleeping pills.
Alli did not play at all last season for Everton before his contract expired in June 2024. His last appearances were for Besiktas during a loan spell the previous campaign.
Alli began training with Como at the end of last year and impressed Fabregas enough to earn himself a contract with the team.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
