Esposito brothers and Spezia pile more misery on Cittadella

It’s another record defeat for Cittadella.

Weeks after a historic 6-1 loss against Sassuolo, which led to the firing of Edoardo Gorini, the Granata suffered their joint biggest loss in professional club history after a 5-0 thrashing against Spezia on Sunday afternoon.

Francesco Pio Esposito opened the scoring in the 35th minute, while his older brother, Salvatore, bagged a brace and an assist to give Spezia a five goal win at the Stadio Alberto Picco. All five goals from the Aquile came from set pieces.

Cittadella remains last in the Serie B standings after 16 games and has now conceded 29 goals since August.

“Spezia was too strong today,” Cittadella head coach Alessandro Dal Canto said after the game. “We started quite well with two chances to take the lead, but after their first goal we were too fragile.”

It was a tall task at hand for Dal Canto’s men who entered La Spezia bottom of Serie B. The Aquile had not lost at home since Feb. 28, and were one of the most in-form teams of 2024.

Cittadella collapsed in the final 15 minutes of the first half after keeping Spezia scoreless. Pio Esposito opened the scoring after heading in a rebound from a corner. Ten minutes later, a deflected header from a free kick bounced off the head of goalkeeper Elhan Kastrati to make it 2-0.

Spezia completed the first half thrashing with Salvatore Esposito slotting home a penalty seconds before halftime.

“Spezia strongly believes in what they do and they show clear concepts,” Dal Canto said. “They know how to apply them. They are a war machine especially on dead ball situations.”

The Granata‘s second half response at the Picco was not similar to the one displayed in Bari, where Dal Canto’s side cut into the lead within the first 10 minutes. Instead, Spezia scored a fourth through Salvatore Esposito once again after his free kick deflected into the net.

Spezia slammed the door on the game in the 68th minute from Przemyslaw Wisniewski’s header on a corner kick.

Three games remain until the halfway point in the Serie B season. Cittadella remains bottom of the standings with 13 points after another record defeat. Dal Canto’s side returns home next Sunday to face Cremonese at 15:00 CET.

“If we don’t start to win a few games, we’ll struggle to stay attached to the pack,” he said. “We have to roll up our sleeves and do something more.”

PHOTO: A.S. Cittadella / Facebook