Arsenal star Jakub Kiwor played the full 90 minutes as Poland narrowly beat Lithuania 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier.
Kiwior has frustrated fans in his limited outings for the Gunners this season, and it appears he didn’t do much on Friday night in Warsaw to suggest he should be featuring more regularly for Mikel Arteta’s team.
Despite struggling throughout the game, the Poles did manage to scrape past the Eastern European minnows, thanks to an excellent late goal from Robert Lewandowski.
The result sees Poland sit second in their World Cup qualifying group after one match, level on points with Finland, who beat Malta away from home in their first outing of the competition.
Polish media review Arsenal star Jakub Kiwior’s performance v Lithuania
Deployed on the left of a back three alongside Kamil Patkowski and Jan Bednarek, Kiwior delivered a mixed performance for his country on Friday.
The Arsenal defender was largely untroubled defensively, although was sloppy in possession throughout.
After the game, Polish media outlets produced indifferent reviews on Kiwior’s showing.
Sporto Wefakty described the team’s performance as ’embarrassing’, but were less concerned about the Gunners’ man’s individual display.
Awarding him a 6/10 in their player ratings, the publication were frustrated that the Poland manager opted to use someone who hasn’t been featuring regularly for their club.
They wrote: “Michał Probierz once again broke his rule for him, stating that he would focus on players playing in clubs. In September in Glasgow (2:3) it ended badly, but this time the coach did not have to regret it. He got through the match unscathed.”
Meanwhile, Meczyki were slightly more critical, writing: “A bittersweet performance. In the first half he moved forward nicely a few times, he also had some good interventions in defence, but at times he seemed to lose concentration. He happened to lose the ball or play out.”
Kiwior’s future at Arsenal is uncertain, and based on how he’s playing when he does get minutes, the North Londoners may look to cash in on the centre-back in the summer.
Jakub Kiwior’s statistics vs Lithuania
Kiwior tends to be somewhat conservative in possession for Arsenal, but the data would suggest that he was anything but this against Lithuania.
Giving the ball away unusually frequently, which likely prompted the frustration from the Polish media outlets, the 25-year-old looked to be progressive throughout.
Likely liberated by playing as part of a back three, but also more confident due to the lack of intensity from Lithuania, Kiwior completed a monumental 17 passes into the final third.
| Kiwior’s statistics vs Albania | |
| Minutes Played | 90 |
| Key Passes | 1 |
| Accurate Passes | 65/76 (86%) |
| Touches | 93 |
| Passes into the Final Third | 17 |
| Tackles Won | 1/4 (25%) |
| Ground Duels Won | 5/6 (83%) |
| Aerial Duels Won | 5/6 (83%) |
Managing 93 touches, the onus was on him to conduct the build-up for Poland, and he did so with mixed success.
Defensively, he won ten out of 12 duels, although he only made one successful tackle.
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