Peter Crouch wowed by what ‘fantastic’ Emi Martinez did in Aston Villa loss v Club Brugge
Peter Crouch has piled praise on Emi Martinez after the Aston Villa star made a double save in the first half of the defeat against Club Brugge.
The Villans travelled to face the Belgian outfit on Wednesday 6 November and fell to a disappointing defeat as their unbeaten run in the Champions League came to an end.
Before scoring their penalty, the home side had plenty of chances but the Argentina international was able to maintain a clean sheet with some excellent saves.
One moment was picked out by Crouch live on TNT Sports 2 (6 November, 6:42pm) who said: “It’s a fantastic double save from Emi Martinez.
“The first one, he gets a great hand on it to push it onto the post.”
Emi Martinez shines in Aston Villa defeat v Club Brugge
The Yashin Trophy winner is so often a shining light in poor performances for the Villans and the clash against the Belgian side was no different.
Villa failed to truly get going with their casual nature being completely summed up by Tyrone Mings’ bizarre handball from a goal kick.
Things could have been so different for Villa if it wasn’t for Martinez who was superb throughout and ultimately was let down by a moment of madness.
The Argentine made six saves throughout the clash which just summed up his importance as he kept out 0.39 xG from Brugge [FotMob].
This was impressive but his ability to get up and claim the ball was also a massive help, something he did on three occasions while also contributing with 13 recoveries.
Unai Emery will have been pleased by his performance but his passing accuracy will be up there with the best elements of his game. This saw him keep up a 100 per cent completion rate across his 33 passes while also keeping up a 100 per cent long ball success.
It is fair to say that Martinez has every right to feel fuming with his teammates after the defeat in Brugges as he did all he could to keep the home side out.
In other Aston Villa news, one star could be set to return on loan after a failed transfer away from Villa Park.
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