Watch How Aston Villa Goalkeeper Emi Martinez Blocked David de Gea’s View Leading to Luca Digne Freekick Goal

Watch How Aston Villa Goalkeeper Emi Martinez Blocked David de Gea’s View Leading to Luca Digne Freekick Goal

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:16 PM
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  • Emiliano Martinez provided some creative tactical advice to his Aston Villa teammates, leading to Luca Digne's wonderful freekick
  • Martinez was able to destabilise David de Gea's plans to stop the free kick by blocking his vision
  • The free kick goal, plus other strikes by Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey, saw Unai Emery start off with a win

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has gone viral after he contributed greatly to his team's second goal against Manchester United.

The Red Devils travelled to Midlands to face Aston Villa, who were starting a new era under Unai Emery. Erik ten Hag's side had hoped to keep their recent revival going, but Emery had other plans.

Luca Digne, Emiliano Martinez, Aston Villa, Manchester United, David de Gea. freekick
Luca Digne scores past David de Gea during Aston Villa's match against Manchester United on November 6. Photo by Matthew Ashton.
Source: Getty Images

The hosts were 2-0 up within the first 11 minutes. Leon Bailey scored the first one, with Luca Digne adding a second one via a sumptuous free kick.

Normally, it is usually the opposition goalkeepers who line up their defenders when facing a free kick. As David de Gea arranged his wall to thwart Digne's effort however, Martinez counteracted his efforts by planning Aston Villa players to block De Gea's vision.

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Martinez nullified de Gea's efforts

In the viral video, de Gea is seen pacing on his line as he tells his defenders where he wants them to stand. Martinez, who by now is close to the halfway line, had also positioned himself to see where his opposite number was standing.

The Argentinian then summons the two Aston Villa players in front of the United wall and tells them to move to the right. The ingenuity worked, with de Gea remaining visionless as Digne struck the ball.

De Gea reacted late and failed to stop the ball as Villa Park, led by Martinez, erupted into celebrations. The goalkeeper then made a couple of decent stops to stop Manchester United from getting back into the game.

Ten Hag blames his players

After the game, Manchester United Head Coach Erik ten Hag criticised his players for resorting to using long balls during their game against Aston Villa.

Sports Brief has reported that United were humiliated at Villa Park in Unai Emery's first game in charge.

The Red Devils appeared to miss the creativity of Bruno Fernandes, who was out on suspension after having accumulated five yellow cards.

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Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)
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