Emiliano Martinez surely left Aston Villa fans in state of panic after near-costly moments v Arsenal
Aston Villa continued their resurgence as they triumphed over Arsenal but the victory proved more uncomfortable than it should have been with Emiliano Martinez guilty of near-costly incidents.
Villa moved to within two points of the summit of the Premier League with a narrow win over Mikel Arteta’s Gunners on Saturday (9 December) at Villa Park after John McGinn’s first-half winner.
Despite Arsenal’s pressure, Villa held on to back up their statement victory over champions Manchester City on Wednesday and record a club-record 15th straight home league victory.
It is a true sign of the remarkable progress the club are undertaking under the Spaniard with the Aston Villa now surely an outside bet for a Premier League title challenge if their stunning form continues.
However, despite the win, on another day the West Midlands outfit could well have suffered their first defeat at Villa Park in over a year and much of that was partly down to Martinez’ complacency at times.
The Argentinian shot-stopper, labelled “world-class” by pundit Gary Neville for his influence in Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph, is by far and wide Emery’s number one and has looked every bit of it this season with some match-winning displays.
In the 1-0 victory against Manchester City, he had a 100 per cent save rate from shots he faced as he denied Erling Haaland what would have been a crucial goal. [Sofascore]
Also in that game, the goalkeeper had a 90% pass accuracy, finding the target with 35 of his 39 attempted passes, including picking out his man from eight of his 12 attempted long passes, proving how effective he can be when playing out from the back.
Across his last three Premier League displays, the shot-stopper has prevented a combined 2.72 goals despite the two conceded against Bournemouth and one against Tottenham. [Sofascore].
Martinez has proved with his passing and shot-stopping he is crucial but against Arsenal, while those characteristics remained, he may not have been lucky with costly moments that left the Villa Park crowd in a state of panic.
In the first half, the Argentinian could well have rued one costly decision to rush out of his area when Gabriel Martinelli was put through on goal…
Had Martinelli and Arsenal put on their shooting boots, that’s one moment in which the Gunners may have put themselves on the scoresheet – a period of the match in which they dominated.
There was another moment in the second half when Bukayo Saka was put through on goal…
Martinez was guilty of being irrational in this instance, racing out of his area with no thought of getting to the ball, a decision which Saka pounced on and scored but was correctly ruled out for offside.
Sweeper keepers have indeed become a welcome fashion among modern-day goalkeepers in the current era and Martinez has certainly enjoyed the responsibility but against Arsenal, it could have ended up much differently for him and his teammates had things gone against them.
Yes, it’s hypothetical but manager Emery will surely have to have a word in his goalkeeper’s ear because the Villans may not be so lucky next time.
Another instance in the second half, the Argentinian proved incredibly lucky came from a corner where he flapped Bukayo Saka’s inswinging cross…
As a result of Martinez’s hesitance from the cross, his flap at the ball struck Ollie Watkins and came back off the post in yet another fortunate moment for the 31-year-old.
Despite the nail-biting incidents, the Argentinian enjoyed a fruitful game, completing 100% of his runouts, completing three saves, four high claims, recording one key pass, completed nine long balls and won 100% of his ground duels and 100% of his aerial duels [SofaScore], highlighting his risky nature in front of the Aston Villa sticks.
It remains to be seen whether Martinez will look to cut back on his approach to goalkeeping because in all honesty, it is fun to watch and a strong representation of the progress Villa have made tactically under Emery but against the elite opponents, it’s an approach which could end up costing Aston Villa.
In other Aston Villa, one forgotten player may be losing patience with Unai Emery as his bags could already be packed ahead of a January exit.