Alan Smith blasts Pau Torres after Aston Villa ‘Howler’ v Chelsea
Aston Villa conceded an indirect free-kick inside the box against Chelsea after Pau Torres passed the ball back to Emi Martinez, baffling Alan Smith.
Stamford Bridge hosts the Villans in the Premier League on 1 December, and the first-half moment between the Lions centre-back and shot-stopper handed the Blues another opportunity as they were already up by one goal at that point.
Speaking on Sky Sports [1 December] while commenting on the match, Smith couldn’t believe what he saw from Unai Emery’s defence.
“Villa make an almighty hash of this. Nobody took charge. Torres had to clear his lines – what a howler!”
Aston Villa can’t make silly mistakes v Chelsea
The Villa Park faithful are familiar with incidents in the penalty area leading to the team being punished after Tyrone Mings was judged to handle the ball as he picked it up after Martinez had played it against Club Brugge in the 1-0 defeat in the Champions League.
Villa have gone seven games without a win in all competitions and sit ninth in the league table.
Despite the bad run of form, the Lions are still just three points behind Chelsea and need to find a way to get the three points at Stamford Bridge to get back into contention for a place in the top four.
The defensive pairing of Ezri Konsa and Torres has been reliable in the current campaign, and it’s surprising to see the Spaniard make such a schoolboyish error.
Martinez has also looked shaky in the first half against Enzo Maresca’s team and hasn’t filled the away supporters with much confidence.
The Argentine was pivotal as the Villans got the point against Juventus and needed to pull off similar heroics to keep Chelsea from scoring more.
Ollie Watkins has had some brilliant opportunities to score but has failed to take them, and now Emery’s team have a mammoth task ahead of them, with Chelsea winning 2-0 ahead of the break.
In other Aston Villa news, Coventry have a chance to sign the Lions’ ace as the Birmingham club are open to a loan move.
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