Aston Villa finished the weekend 8th in the Premier League table after beating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday and Gabriel Agbonlahor reserved praise for Emiliano Martinez after the part he played in Bruno Fernandes missing a late penalty.
United were awarded a spot-kick in the final few minutes of the match and Martinez deployed mind games to put Fernandes off. He initially asked Cristiano Ronaldo to take the penalty as he does for Portugal and then danced in front of the Stretford End after Fernandes’ effort went over the bar.
Agbonlahor enjoyed Martinez’s behaviour in the final stages of the game and told Football Insider: “I loved it. It doesn’t matter who it is, you cannot be scared. Martinez, that just showed the experience he’s getting with the more he’s playing in big games.
“I loved it. If David de Gea did that everyone would say ‘That’s world-class goalkeeping, that’s experienced goalkeeping’. It wasn’t disrespectful. If that was the penalty shootout in the (Euro 2020) final and (Jordan) Pickford did that, I don’t think anybody would be complaining. It’s part of the game.
“Goalkeepers are clever. Sometimes they make attackers have to wait by walking across the goalline and delaying the kick. I thought it was great goalkeeping by the Aston Villa goalkeeper.” Martinez has made 43 appearances in all competitions since joining Villa on a four-year deal from Arsenal, keeping an impressive 18 clean sheets.
The 29-year-old’s form at club level led to him becoming Argentina’s No.1 goalkeeper and he helped his country win the Copa America over the summer. Martinez is one of the best shot-stoppers in the Premier League and used all his experience to put pressure on Fernandes before his penalty.
It worked and Villa picked up all three points at Old Trafford.
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