Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was pleased with our second half performance against Chelsea, and reserved special praise for Emiliano Martinez.
Villa struggled in the opening half at Stamford Bridge in our fourth-round FA Cup tie on Friday night, with the hosts putting us under pressure and creating several openings.
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Fortunately, Martinez was in fine form once again to produce top saves to keep it level, and it has become a weekly feature of our games to have the Argentine international play a decisive role in securing positive results.
Although we improved after the half-time interval and went close to breaking the deadlock ourselves with an improved period of play where we built sustained pressure, neither side could ultimately find a breakthrough and avoid a replay.
Instead, we’ll welcome Chelsea to Villa Park next month to determine who advances to the next round, and Emery was pleased with how his side responded in the second half to push to secure a victory.
“There were two different halves in the match,” Emery said, as per BBC Sport. “The first half was more or less for them and they created chances. But we played very well defensively, very well in our own box and we played very well with Emiliano Martinez.
“Second half we got better. We created chances and we were in their box. We were controlling the game. But at the end, I think this draw, for both teams, is what they deserve.
“It’s very important to compete and adapt to each opponent. We did that today.
“We tried to keep our mind and game plan clear. In the second half we tried to get progressively better.”
Unsurprisingly, the Villa boss was specifically asked about Martinez, as the World Cup winner was superb in the first half in particular, making crucial saves to keep us level.
With his accurate distribution and improving ability to rush out and sweep up danger behind our high line, he showed his class yet again, and deservedly earned plaudits from Emery.
“He played amazing today,” he added. “He saved us two or three times. And then he was always ready to cover our centre-backs in behind. Emiliano today, we needed him. And really he played like he is – number one.
“Now we play at home, of course we wanted to win the match but now we accept this draw. We play at home in two weeks with our supporters.
“This competition is important for everybody. We want to be contenders as well. The message is clear, we want to try to be contenders in this competition. Of course it is difficult, but today we showed it.”
While Villa have been able to keep three consecutive clean sheets now across all competitions, we’ve also had back-to-back games in which we’ve failed to score.
In turn, the focus will likely be on finding that balance between being resolute defensively and clinical in attack, and with Newcastle Utd visiting us on Tuesday night, it’s hoped that we rediscover it quickly to continue to solidify our position in the top four in the Premier League table.