ZOET 6.5: He seems late in coming out on the corner that leads to Venezia’s lead, he could probably have blocked it with his fists. He redeems himself in the 26th with a miracle on Gytkjaer’s header from a few steps away, preventing the lagoon players from doubling their lead.
MATEJU 6.5: He grits his teeth to be there after the blow he took in the first half in Cosenza. Diligent in the defensive package, he does his thing and gets forward when he can.
HRISTOV 7.5: Ex on duty as usual at the center of the rearguard to lead the defensive package. He annihilates and cancels the bogeyman Pohnjapalo, top scorer of the Serie B tournament.
BERTOLA 7: Chosen as a replacement for the suspended Nikolaou, he returns to the starting lineup after the last match played last March. At the start of the second half he came close to scoring an incredible goal with a volley from Salvatore Esposito’s center directly from a set piece. He plays a careful game, risking nothing and canceling out Gytkjaer. He is out due to injury. (79th WISNIEWSKI SV: Welcome back to the Polish giant in his first appearance of the season: he will be a fundamental “acquisition” to start again next season.)
ELIJAH 7.5: He pushes a lot on the right, placing repeated balls in the center, unfortunately not always very precise, but what counts is the cross that brings Reca’s 2-1. He goes back and forth throughout the match, plowing through his opponents. At the end there were also a couple of very interesting assists for Di Serio. He is certainly Spezia’s best player at the end of the season.
ESPOSITO S. 7: He catalyzes ball after ball in front of the defense and sets up the game by always restarting the Eagles’ action. At the beginning of the second half a great through ball served the insertion of Salvatore Elia on the right: an example of his quality and vision of the game. The right wing opening for Bandinelli needs to be reviewed and he will then send Di Serio shooting. He comes close to scoring a hat trick with a great free kick saved by an equally great save from Joronen who lifts it for a corner kick.
NAGY 7: He sticks to Tessman, the opposing director, and tries to limit his geometries. He made an excellent restart with a great assist for Di Serio. At the beginning of the second half he offers a frenetic pressing to literally “bite” the opponents. A very good purchase for him, now we hope for redemption to have him available again next season.
BANDS 7: As a left midfielder with insertion duties, he is very active from the start, both in pressing and looking for a couple of long-range shots which are unsuccessful. His crosses with which he cuts into the area are also excellent and on one of these the former Candela risks an own goal. He tries again from distance even at the end of the first half, but Joronen saves. During the second half, a nice insertion with an assist to send Di Serio shooting. He played a game that required great physical effort, but he was everywhere, attacking the opposing midfield until the substitution. (74th CASSATA 6: He brings physicality and freshness at the moment in which Venezia was trying to put its nose back out.)
RECA 7: Overpowered by Idzes in the corner action which leads to Venezia’s lead. He redeems himself with the second goal in two games with a strike from a true attacker on Elia’s cross, a very heavy goal. The change because he still doesn’t have 90 minutes left in his legs. (74° VIGNALI 6: He positions himself on the left and also manages to make himself seen with a progression along the entire lane with a great serve in the middle for Di Serio who was stopped once again by Joronen.)
ESPOSITO FP 7: Indolent to the point of irritation in the first half. He has a great opportunity at the end of the half on an assist from Di Serio, but he shoots at an opposing defender, wasting everything. He enters with a different attitude in the second half and finds the equalizer with a right-footed counter-ball with which he unloads all the anger of the match and the season into the net, breaking the deadlock given that he hadn’t scored since the end of October in the away match in Palermo. (64° FALCINELLI 6: He comes in to keep the ball after Spezia had turned the game around and does so with his usual mastery, class and experience.)
SERIOUSLY 7: On Nagy’s assist in the first half, he sits down Svodoba, but finishes weakly and Joronen saves easily. Much less easy, indeed miraculous, was the save by the visiting goalkeeper on the volley from the eagle attacker before Idzes’s lead, but the Lagonare goalkeeper denied him the joy of scoring. At the end of the first half great assist for Pio Esposito who shoots on Sverko. He heads the assist for Esposito Pio. On an assist from Bandinelli he tries to surprise Joronen who saves himself with his chest. Even in full injury time Joronen denied him the goal with a deflection into the corner. Inexhaustible movement and progression up to the 97th! The striker from which to start again next season alongside a real top-class striker.
ALL. D’ANGELO 7.5: Another goal conceded from a dead ball with the defense still marking in the zone and Idzes dominating Reca and scoring. In the circumstances, perhaps Zoet could have punched out, but it remains yet another goal conceded in this way. It’s the only flaw in a perfect evening. He transformed Spezia in the locker rooms with his boys who entered foaming at the mouth, attacking their very tall opponents and finding the saving goals from Francesco Pio Esposito, which he had also bet on after Cosenza, confirming it, and with Reca’s strike which he hadn’t never had him available except in the last two matches where the Pole scored two very heavy goals. There is a lot of his leader in Spezia’s salvation. And now on to the automatic renewal of the contract: next season there will still beBig man from Pescara on the Eagles bench to aim for something different from the beginning of the season.
