Dele Alli has broken his silence following his nightmare debut for Como.
Alli was sent off just 10 minutes into his footballing return – after waiting for two years on the sidelines.
The 28-year-old’s first match for his new club ended in disaster as he was shown a straight red card during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by AC Milan at San Siro.
He had initially been given a yellow card for his stoppage-time foul on Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but it was upgraded to a red card after a controversial VAR check.
Alli posted on Instagram: ‘2 years! Not necessarily how I planned it, but we keep moving.
‘I was always going to announce my return in some way after these past 2 years, would rather it had been with a goal but feels good to be back.’
Dele Alli has broken his silence following his nightmare debut for Como against AC Milan
Alli was sent off 10 minutes into his return for a stoppage-time foul on Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Alli also revealed a hilarious text exchange with Loftus-Cheek to whom he told: ‘Pic looks bad tho, I just tried to clip ur heel. When the ref went to var I didn’t even know it was for me.’
The former Chelsea midfielder responded: ‘Bro I had no clue. I stayed down coz I was blowing.’
AC Milan claimed victory thanks to second-half goals by Christian Pulisic and Tijjani Rejinders after Lucas Da Cunha had given Como the lead.
Fabregas had little sympathy for Alli, telling DAZN: ‘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.’