Aston Villa tipped to fine Emiliano Martinez after ‘ridiculous, strange’ incident
Bryan King believes Aston Villa will have fined Emiliano Martinez after a recent “strange incident” involving the goalkeeper.
The ex-Villa scout believes the Argentinian’s antics during the penalty shoot-out victory over Lille (18 April) will have seen him land in trouble with his club.
Martinez was booked during the second leg of Villa and Lille’s UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final, which ended 1-1 after extra time.
The shot-stopper was then shown a second yellow card for his gamesmanship during the penalty shoot-out but was not sent off as cards issued during normal time are not carried over into penalties.
UEFA have since confirmed Martinez’s suspension for the first leg of Villa’s semi-final against Olympiacos on Thursday 2 May, after the 31-year-old was shown three yellow cards across both legs against Lille (Sky Sports News, 20 April).
And King – speaking exclusively to Villa News – believes Martinez will have been disciplined for his actions.
“Martinez is a very good goalkeeper with a very big personality,” King said.
“He will be a big miss, and I imagine he will have received a fine off the club for getting himself suspended with his antics against Lille.
“Having said that, the lack of clarity over his booking in that penalty shootout was ridiculous.
“It was a very strange incident.”
Emiliano Martinez unlikely to be put off by Aston Villa fine
Even if Martinez was fined by Villa, it is unlikely to have changed anything.
The goalkeeper will no doubt continue to be himself, and supporters can expect him to once again become the pantomime villain the next time he is involved in a penalty shoot-out.
He has proven his worth in these situations both for Villa and Argentina in the World Cup final.
And as long as a match goes to penalties, Villa can feel incredibly confident of coming out on top with Martinez between the sticks.
In other Aston Villa news, the club are set to receive a “wonderful” £40million boost after a recent record-breaking agreement.
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