Emiliano Martinez shines for Argentina in familiar display for Aston Villa fans
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez kept a clean sheet as Argentina continued their winning start to the 2024 Copa America with a 1-0 victory over Chile.
The Albiceleste made it two wins from two in the defence of their Copa America title after Lautaro Martinez’s late winner, but Lionel Scaloni’s side also had Martinez to thank between the sticks.
Martinez, with Premier League centre-backs Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Romero in front of him, faced three shots in total from a meagre Chile side but still didn’t put a foot wrong.
His time at Villa has seen Martinez become a Copa and World Cup-winning keeper, and Argentina’s number one played a major role in helping Unai Emery’s side qualify for the Champions League.
Emiliano Martinez carries Aston Villa form to Copa America
Despite their continental and international success in recent years, Argentina have historically struggled against their neighbours, famously losing back-to-back Copa America finals to Chile in 2015 and 2016.
The stakes weren’t quite as high in their group stage match this time around, but Martinez’s rock-solid foundations at the back laid the platform for his namesake Lautaro to net the winner in the 88th minute.
Villa’s shot-stopper attained a very good SofaScore rating of 7.4, higher than every Chilean other than his counterpart Claudio Bravo, who was forced into a whopping eight saves throughout the match.
Martinez made three of his own at the other end, preventing 0.13 goals in the process, and made one of these from close range after Rodrigo Echeverria drove into the box.
That 7.4 SofaScore rating is higher than Martinez’s average of 7.1 for Villa, and a pass accuracy of 90 per cent suggests that the 31-year-old could be getting even better.
Only one of his three long balls found a man – unsurprising with the diminutive Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez up front – but they would be the only two misplaced passes attempted by Martinez all night, in another performance that shows he’s almost as important to Argentina as his aforementioned captain.
In other Aston Villa news, Jack Grealish’s stance on a summer return to Villa Park has been mooted following his Euro 2024 snub
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