Dion Dublin in six-word response to Martinez controversy in Aston Villa win v Preston
Aston Villa secured a 3-0 win against Preston North End on Sunday, but Emi Martinez failed to avoid controversy at Deepdale.
The Villans are heading to Wembley at the end of April after securing an FA Cup quarter-final win against the Lilywhites on 30 March.
A clash against Crystal Palace at the home of English football now awaits, but things could have been so different in the Lancashire sunshine.
Martinez was once again involved in a moment of controversy as Dion Dublin shared his simple verdict.
Dublin reacts to Martinez controversy v Preston
The Argentina international was in the headlines against Brazil during the international break for doing keepy uppy’s in a 4-1 win.
Although there was no showboating at Deepdale, it is fair to say that he angered home supporters once again.
In the first half, the 32-year-old looked to roll the ball out quickly but the ball came off Will Keane before falling to Lewis Gibson sent a lofted ball into an open net.
Chris Kavanagh blew his whistle and awarded a free kick straight away but it did come as a bold decision at such an important time in the match.
Speaking live on BBC One on 30 March, Joe Hart shared his belief that the match official got the decision right.
He said: “I can tell by the way that Keane reacted, he knows. It’s that the slight movement towards Emi Martinez’s hand, Martinez is, of course, is going to ask for it.
“Everyone accepted it on the pitch, which is quite important. He’s still touching it, he’s still in control of the ball. I think it got cleared up quickly.”
Former Villa man, Dublin reacted simply to say: “Play on is all I’ll say!”
Aston Villa won’t care about Martinez moment
As far as Villa are concerned, the decision surrounding Martinez was correct and there were very few complaints from the home faithful.
After this moment, the Argentina international was very quiet as he had very little to do as Preston had just one shot on target on the day.
| Stat | Emi Martinez v Preston North End |
| Saves | 1 |
| Accurate passes | 36 |
| Accurate long balls | 11 |
| High claims | 1 |
| Throws | 3 |
With that being said, it was all about being patient at Deepdale to continue playing in the Unai Emery way to eventually secure an easy win.
Rashford was superb and deserved more than his two goals while Jacob Ramsey was also superb to net the third goal to put a final nail in the tie.
Now a clash against Crystal Palace awaits but not before four Premier League games and a Champions League double header against PSG.
Que sera, sera…