While Ollie Watkins’ brilliance may have rescued a point late on for Aston Villa at Bournemouth on Sunday, Emiliano Martinez had a major hand in the draw too.
Twice Villa fell behind at the Vitality Stadium this past weekend, as we struggled to impose ourselves effectively and control the game as we do at home so efficiently.
READ MORE: What Unai Emery said in assessment of Villa’s draw at Bournemouth
Conceding early continues to be problematic on the road, and there will no one more frustrated and irritated by that than Martinez, who prides himself on being able to lead the way in shut-outs.
While he may not have been able to keep Bournemouth at bay entirely, the Argentine World Cup winner did produce a string of stunning saves, and those ultimately kept us in a position to salvage the point at the end.
This isn’t anything new or a rare occurrence either. Martinez is consistently decisive for us between the posts, making key saves week in and week out that ultimately prove to be fundamental to the outcome of games.
If it isn’t his shot-stopping, it’s his ability to command his box and deal with threats delivered into it, or sweeping up behind our high line and breaking up a ball over the top that threatens to expose us.
The 31-year-old is a pivotal figure for Villa, and while others will grab the headlines with their attacking qualities, Martinez will continue to go about his business and be a leader at the back for us as we try to push on this season.
“He is fantastic, fantastic,” Emery said of Martinez in his post-match press conference. “He is not happy because we conceded two goals. He was fantastic, he saved two times very important moments and that was very important to believe through his individual performance as well.”
In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need Martinez to produce these superb saves time and time again, and there is undoubtedly improvement needed, especially away from home, to make us a more difficult side to break down.
While we’ve picked up impressive results on the road at times, there isn’t that same balance and control from Villa away from Villa Park, and so it’s imperative that we find a solution and make it more of a challenge for the opposition to find a way through us.
With a big week ahead as we host both Manchester City and Arsenal, Martinez will no doubt be vital in our attempt to secure positive results and sustain our excellent start to the campaign.
A world-class goalkeeper can absolutely make the difference over the course of a season in gaining us points that could make or break our European aspirations. Villa have to be more robust defensively, but Martinez will remain a daunting obstacle to get past for many an opposition forward.
Two more outstanding saves from the best goalkeeper in the world. ⭐
🇦🇷 @EmiMartinezz1 pic.twitter.com/8Fj0ANbG7z
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 4, 2023