Former Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given has now been praising one individual performance in the win over Arsenal yesterday.
Unai Emery’s side produced something akin to a masterclass at the Emirates, stealing three valuable points in the race for fourth.
Villa are now definitely in the driving seat once again, which could be crucial given there are now fresh doubts over fifth place representing a Champions League spot too.
Emery’s side weren’t quite at their best in first half yesterday, even if Diego Carlos might argue otherwise with his individual performance.
But when Villa started the second half, and Youri Tielemans and John McGinn begun to dictate play in the middle, it felt like the game was only heading one way.
Villa’s away support was raucous, they could sense it too, and between Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins the visiting side eventually secured the three points in comfortable fashion.
As you can see, there were a fair few Villa performances to celebrate on the day.
But when analysing the game for the BBC’s Match of the Day 2, Shay Given was amazed by one Villa player in particular.
Shay Given left blown away by Aston Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez against Arsenal
Shay Given was amazed by Villa’s whole back line, but was pretty mesmerised by a save Emiliano Martinez made to deny Leandro Trossard in the first half.
Given said: “The one time I think they did get past him [Diego Carlos] they’ve got Emi Martinez to thank.
“This is a phenomenal save, Konsa should pick up Trossard on this occasion but watch this for a save, this is at 0-0.
“What a brilliant save this is, you know you’ve got one of the best goalkeepers in the world, an actual World Cup winner – you see his celebration there [after the save].
“This angle is absolutely magic from behind the goal, you know you do them exercises, you do them drills in training all the time, you spin off the post and maybe one save you get that.
“That’s a phenomenal save from the big man.”
Of course, the £17m Aston Villa paid to sign Martinez from Arsenal does now look like an absolute steal.
And whilst Arsenal will be pretty content with David Raya in goal right now, they have let some exceptional keepers, including Bernd Leno as well, leave the club of late.
All that being said, Mikel Arteta has just strongly disagreed with something Ollie Watkins said about Arsenal yesterday.
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