Emi Martinez branded best in the world by stunned Sky Sports pundit after Aston Villa draw with Everton at Goodison Park
Emi Martinez’s importance to Aston Villa was once more in full view as Unai Emery’s side came away from Goodison Park with a point.
The 0-0 draw at Goodison Park on 14 January saw the Argentine branded the “best goalkeeper in the world” by former Villan Lee Hendrie after his huge double-save late in the first half.
Martinez kept out Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin with his leg in similar fashion to his stop to deny Randal Kolo Muani in the World Cup final when the striker was sent clean through one-on-one as stoppage time approached.
He then got down low to claw away a low shot from James Garner that was heading into the bottom corner, to preserve a clean sheet in a tight game that ultimately couldn’t separate the two sides.
According to stats from SofaScore.com the 31-year-old’s pair of saves prevented 0.54 expected goals, which seems low compared to how they looked on the pitch, with the most important two of his 52 touches on the day.
An 85% pass completion rate (33 of 39), of which one was a key pass, showed he still plays on the edge as one of the balls that didn’t reach it’s target saw Amadou Onana steal in to take it off Douglas Luiz’s toe in the opening minutes, but Martinez took a boot to the chest as he blocked for the one foul against him.
He also claimed possession out of the air four times, but it was his two stops on Merseyside that proved the difference between leaving with a point or nothing, and Hendrie was stunned in reaction on Sky Sports News at 2.49pm.
The pundit said when asked if the keeper was the benchmark in world football: “Yes well, arguably yeah. He’s just made two brilliant saves. One coming off Calvert-Lewin breaking the line, Villa’s high line, Lenglet just playing him on.
“Finds himself in the central area of the goal, gets himself to the 18-yard line and tries to come back across rather than maybe just sliding it in at that far post. Forces a big save off Emi Martinez in goal, off his legs.
“Then they re-filter it, comes back out to the edge of the box, and the second save is absolutely top drawer, it really is. James Garner comes into a ball, it just sits nicely for him as it comes through a crowd of players.
“It zips off the surface, hard, low, and you think it’s going in that far corner but the best goalkeeper in the world pulls out a massive, massive hand to keep the scoreline at 0-0. Really, two big, big saves.”
In other Aston Villa news, one Villan was accused of being a “coward” for what he did this season.