He “Draw” Martinez and the Aston Villa They experienced a nightmare match this Sunday at Villa Park’s debut with a resounding defeat against Tottenham from 0-4.
Emiliano Martínez, controversial Aston Villa goalkeeper and winner of The Best award for Best Goalkeeper of 2022, received 4 goals from Spurs, sealing the second worst win for his team so far this season, since that 5-1 defeat against them by Newcastle in August 2023.
The defeat was painful for the locals, since beyond the result, They allowed the Spurs to close the gap in the fight for a ticket to the next season of the Champions Leaguesince with a victory the “Dibu” team was able to get within 8 points of the London team, but with the defeat they are now only two points behind their rival and run the risk of being displaced from the UEFA star competition at the level of clubs.
Unai Emery’s team sought its fourth consecutive victory in the Premier League. Unlike the other three previously, almost all of his players had more fatigue in their legs due to the clash they played on Thursday with Ajax.
Eight of the eleven protagonists who started a goalless draw in Amsterdam repeated and Caash, McGinn and Bailey appeared fresh. Diaby, Iroegbunam and Rogers were left out, and Aston Villa had to deal with a fresher opponent but who failed to generate anything in a first half with a lot of intensity but with only a very easy intervention for Emiliano Martínez to a cross from Brennan Johnson .
Aston Villa sought to be more aggressive, intense and very conservative at the back. They managed to completely nullify Tottenham’s attack, but they were not much more generous up front with just three shots from Cash, Bailey and Tielemans. Neither was very dangerous and both teams went to the locker room with everything to resolve in the second half.
However, at first, there was no good news for the London team, who lost their most reliable centre-back, Van de Ven, almost as soon as they stepped onto the pitch. The setback did not affect Ange Postecoglou’s team in any way, which in the next two plays scored with its first shots on goal.
Maddison started Tottenham’s celebrations with a close-range shot after a spectacular cross from the right wing by Sarr and Maddison continued them with help: Konsa, when the ball was released, fell asleep trying to find a teammate. In the end he decided on the wrong one, Tielemans, watched by Son. The Korean stole the ball, gave it to Maddison and ‘Dibu’ Martínez could not do anything to avoid the second.
Two shots on goal were enough for Tottenham. They were enough to dismantle Aston Villa, visibly more tired from the European effort of the week. The changes, three simultaneous with half an hour left (Álex Moreno, Diaby and Zaniolo came on), had no effect.
It was too late. The damage had been done and McGinn’s expulsion didn’t help matters. Even in added time, Son and Werner closed the rout and rounded out the score so that in the end Tottenham added three points, placing them just two away from fourth place. Postecoglou’s team emerged victorious in one of the most complicated visits of the season and now, if they win their postponed match, they will occupy the last position with access to the Champions League.
It is worth mentioning that Emiliano Martínez could do little in the Spurs’ goals and was not a factor in the win.
*With information from EFE.
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