Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was spotted “winding up the Chelsea crowd” in the 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge this afternoon, with reporter Jacob Tanswell taking to X to comment on an incident involving Nicolas Jackson.
What was the Chelsea vs Aston Villa score?
Villa ran out 1-0 winners at Stamford Bridge this afternoon, bouncing back from their 3-2 defeat against Legia Warsaw in their opening Europa Conference League game on Thursday night, and they are now up to sixth in the Premier League table.
The game changed in the second half when Chelsea’s Malo Gusto was sent off after an intervention from VAR, with the right-back being dismissed after going into a challenge with Lucas Digne with his studs up.
Ollie Watkins’ goal with just over 15 minutes remaining was the difference between the two sides, producing a finish to beat Robert Sanchez from a very tight angle, and the Villans held on to secure an important victory, their fourth in their last five league games.
However, it appears as though Unai Emery‘s side would have been fairly content with a point, considering what Martinez did during the first half, at which point the game was still tied up at 0-0.
The goalkeeper was spotted time wasting on a number of occasions, which certainly managed to get under the home crowd’s skin, according to Tanswell, with the Athletic reporter taking to X to say:
“Emi Martinez is winding up the Chelsea crowd, not that he cares. Every other free-kick he has taken ages. The moment Jackson stands in front of the ball, but with his back turned, Martinez smashes it against his legs. Jackson booked for stopping a quick free-kick. Artful.”
How many clean sheets has Emiliano Martinez kept for Aston Villa?
Prior to the game, the Argentina international had picked up 41 clean sheets in 146 appearances for Aston Villa, and he has another one to add to his collection after today, having put in a solid performance to keep the Blues at bay.
As per Sofascore, the 31-year-old prevented a total of 1.51 goals throughout the match, having been called into action to make four saves, three of which were from shots inside the box, playing a key role for Villa en-route to picking up a big three points.
The shot-stopper received a SofaScore match rating of 7.7 for his efforts, the second-highest figure of any player on his side, and he will be glad to be back to his best, after shipping three goals away at Legia Warsaw on Thursday night.
Martinez eventually picked up a yellow card for his time wasting antics in the 94th minute, but he will not care one jot, considering his use of the dark arts ultimately ended up paying off, with his side holding out to secure a 1-0 victory.
Emery will now be hoping his goalkeeper puts in a similar performance if he is picked for the EFL Cup game against Everton on Wednesday night, before Villa play host to Brighton & Hove Albion in a tough match next weekend.
