In Aston Villa’s 2-1 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage, Emi Martinez accepted responsibility for a defensive blunder that placed his teammates under pressure before he produced a spectacular save to keep the three points.
Ollie Watkins scored either side of the half, and shortly after the hour, Rodrigo Muniz cut the lead in half thanks to a defensive blunder by Martinez and Clement Lenglet. In the closing minutes, Fulham made a strong push for a draw. Adama Traore had the finest opportunity to tie the score, but Martinez stopped him one-on-one.
Villa’s victory moved them back into the top four following Wolves’ victory over Tottenham. Since Tottenham is off the schedule the next weekend, Unai Emery’s team will have the opportunity to open up a five-point lead inside the top five when they host Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Huge victory, Martinez said to VillaTV. “We believed that defeating Manchester United at home by an 11-point margin would be significant.
It was a game we didn’t deserve to lose, but in the end, we lost. There were concerns when we moved here because we had three ACL injuries in one season, which is more than average. We haven’t exactly had the best luck.
“We have to play for them because we have the opportunity to make things right every weekend and they don’t,” we stated prior to the game.
They support us from home and attend training every day. It’s shocking for everyone to see three of my close friends suffering from ACL injuries. We made an effort to entertain them.
“I believe there is a misunderstanding between Clem and me,” stated MartÃnez. “Clem had it apparent that I should have left, but he kind of paused when he saw me approaching. I put pressure on the squad, and I am the one with the aim.
But I made the vow to never give up again when the squad was under duress. I placed pressure on the team while attempting to assist with a few crosses and saves.
I’m familiar with how we defend, and I work on it a lot one-on-one with Javi. Sometimes we bring in under-23 players to play against me one-on-one from a distance. I’ve never played defence with such a high line, and I’m now attempting to get better every time I play.
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