Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has hit back after his blunder cost the Villans dearly in their defeat to Liverpool at Anfield. Argentina's number one was at fault as his sloppy pass was intercepted by Mohamed Salah, who made no mistake in firing into an open goal to put the Reds in front. Having made the mistake, the goalkeeper has issued a response.
Martinez howler costs Villa
With minutes left of what had been a very even first-half in Merseyside, Villa were moments away from going into the break level at 0-0. Pau Torres set the ball back to Martinez, who had plenty of space and time to either lay it back to the Spanish defender or send it high up the pitch. Martinez decided to send it back Torres’ way, but the pass was too far in front of the defender who had dropped back and wide to make a passing option for the goalkeeper. It was a fatal error and the Villa back-line could only watch on as Salah pounced on the loose ball and curled a low effort into the gaping net with his weaker right foot.
The Egyptian was never going to pass up the opportunity to score for a second game running and the goalkeeper could have no one to blame but himself. The home side kicked on the in second-half and when Ryan Gravenberch’s deflected effort left a stricken Martinez diving the wrong way, the Reds sealed their first Premier League win after four losses in a row.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportMartinez posts response on social media
Speaking after the game, Martinez’s boss, Unai Emery, was unhappy with the complacency shown by his shot-stopper. The Spanish coach, via , said: “Pau was getting his position to play with this pass and then through those passes to feel good and, in that case, lost the ball. Of course, to build in our structure strong and not to concede the chances we conceded.
“It was easy for Salah. It was a huge mistake but one thing in our process under my responsibility. I accept it, and we build a team here through the style we want to keep in our process in the club and in the next matches.”
Emery continued to insist that “we must avoid huge mistakes like we made today in the first goal we conceded.” He added that he will have to reflect on the game and that Villa will work on their build-up play to avoid making such faux pas going forward.
Martinez was less humble in defeat and turned to Instagram to offer his own thoughts. Captioning a post of two black-and-white photos of himself, the goalkeeper said: “I never lose. I either win or I learn.”
Martinez adds another mistake to the list
Some more cynical Villa fans might find Martinez’s response a tad frustrating. The goalkeeper has been prone to a series of avoidable mistakes in recent seasons and has been responsible for a handful of damaging errors that have led to the opposition scoring.
The goalkeeper has often spoken out about his desire to play at a higher level than Villa and was expecting to move to Manchester United in the summer. The Red Devils decided to move for Senne Lammens instead and the Argentine remains reluctantly in Birmingham.
Making another mistake in between the sticks suggests that the goalkeeper has not quite learnt his lesson from previous errors. Should he continue to produce gaffes that lead to dropped points, Emery may look to move on from the once imperious figure in net.
AFPThe politicised Europa Conference League game
Martinez will have a chance to demonstrate he has learnt from his latest slip against Maccabi Tel Aviv in what should be a fiery fixture on Thursday. Political figures have waded into the game’s preamble after the Israeli side were not handed any tickets for the game at Villa Park after police fears over fan safety. The recent Tel Aviv derby had to be called off to the “endangerment of human lives” and no travelling fans will be in the ground for the Europa Conference League clash.