Spezia started with 3 Polish internationals last night. How did they get on?

Images via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock

Spezia began their Serie A season last night with a 1-0 win at home over Empoli. Jakub Kiwior, fresh from turning down West Ham (read more here) started in the middle of a back three, with Arkadiusz Reca at left wing-back and Bartłomiej Drągowski making his Spezia debut in goal.

Drągowski had little to do on his debut. The 24 year-old, twice capped for Poland, had few saves to make and on the occasions the ball did come towards his goal, shots were either high or wide, resulting in dives almost comedic in their nature.

Kiwior was impressive, as he generally has been for Spezia since the turn of the year. The 22 year-old was a part of a home defence that remained resolute, even when Empoil had the lion’s share of possession and chances in the second half. Kiwior spent most of this time marking opposition striker Sam Lammers, or hammering the ball upfield to the Spezia strikeforce, as the team searched for out-balls and counter attacks.

One source of these out-balls was Arkadiusz Reca, until his substitution in the 76th minute. Always full of running, Reca was able to put in some good crosses, although they were defended well by Empoli. I once read a comment on Twitter that Reca would be good at running with the ball, if only the ball was not there. A slightly harsh comment, and one that last night proved not to be the case.

It was a positive game for Spezia generally, who are looking to further consolidate their Serie A status after the past two seasons saw them arguably overachieve and stay in the top division. Recent transfer speculation in Italy has suggested that a fourth Polish international may be joining their ranks in Szymon Żurkowski, as it was expected he would not be featuring for Fiorentina this season (the last year of his current deal). However, given Żurkowski assisted the winning goal for La Viola this weekend, a potential move for his services becomes less likely.

For more, follow @ekstraklasaexp on Twitter and @ekstraklasaexports on Instagram to know when new posts go live.