Emi Martinez incident: Ex-FIFA official reacts to flashpoint v Nottingham Forest
Emi Martinez was once again in the spotlight as Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 at Villa Park on Saturday evening.
Donyell Malen and Morgan Rogers were both on the scoresheet in the first 15 minutes to help move Unai Emery’s men into sixth position – level on points with Manchester City – in the Premier League.
Jota Silva pulled one back for Forest in the 57th minute and was booked 16 minutes later for a foul on Ezri Konsa.
Simon Hooper then had the chance to send Jota off for a flashpoint involving Martinez.
Hooper ‘lenient’ after Martinez and Jota incident
Six minutes after Jota’s booking, the Nottingham Forest ace and Aston Villa goalkeeper were seen pushing and barging one another inside the Villa penalty area.
It got heated with Martinez eventually turning around to face up to the Portuguese winger, putting an arm around him and walking out of the area with the ball still in his hands.
It was the kind of incident that would have usually resulted in a yellow card for both players but Hooper kept his cards in his pockets and allowed Aston Villa to continue play with a free-kick after chatting to the offenders.
| Goalkeeper | Yellow cards |
| 1= Jordan Pickford (Everton) | 6 |
| 1= Bart Verbruggen (Brighton) | 6 |
| 3. Robert Sanchez (Chelsea) | 5 |
| 4. Emi Martinez (Aston Villa) | 4 |
Keith Hackett thinks it was good, albeit forgiving, refereeing by Hooper, who later ended up booking Martinez anyway.
“Referee Simon Hooper took a lenient view of the clash between Jota and Villa goalkeeper Martinez,” the former PGMOL general manager told Villa News.
“The goalkeeper, in his retaliation, clearly carried the ball outside the penalty area.
“Given the raised temperature in the game, I thought the referee applied some common sense and did not overreact.
“Hooper kept the game flowing and took a low-key approach throughout.”
Martinez has to chill out
On another day, Martinez could have been booked for that incident and then booked again later in the game, resulting in a one-match ban.
While that didn’t happen, the Argentina goalkeeper simply has no need to act the way he does sometimes.
He’s supposedly the best goalkeeper in the world. His antics will appease some fans but only up until the point he gets himself stupidly sent off.