Emi Martinez reacts to Youri Tielemans after Aston Villa win over Tottenham
Aston Villa ace Emi Martinez has responded to his teammate Youri Tielemans on social media after beating Tottenham.
The 27-year-old Belgian midfielder played the full match and put in a controlled performance in the centre of the park as Villa beat Spurs 2-1 in the FA Cup fourth round.
Jacob Ramsey opened the scoring for the Villains in the second minute, thanks in large part to a massive fumble from Antonin Kinsky in goal.
Tottenham keeper Kinsky gave away a penalty against Liverpool when the two sides faced on 6 February in the Carabao Cup semi-final, and his gaffe had Spurs fans counting down the days for Guglielmo Vicario’s return from injury.
Morgan Rogers would then double Villa’s lead, with a tap-in after Pedro Porro cleared Donyell Malen’s effort off the line.
Malen was left out of Aston Villa’s Champions League squad, and made the most of his chance to impress in the FA Cup.
Marcus Rashford joined Aston Villa from Man United in the January transfer window, and was brought on for Malen, impressing on his debut.
Mathys Tel was signed on loan at Spurs from Bayern Munich at the end of the winter transfer window, and the young Frenchman would score a wonderful outside-of-the-foot volley to open his Tottenham account, but it was not enough to get Spurs back into the game.
Emi Martinez applauds composed Aston Villa teammate Youri Tielemans
After the win, Tielemans posted on his Instagram a series of photo’s of himself in action, captioned: “New week, new challenges. Hard work is the only way.”
His teammate Martinez responded with a number of clapping emojis, applauding another good display from the former Monaco midfielder.
Despite scoring just once, and assisting four in the Premier League this season, Tielemans has been an indispensable member of Unai Emery’s side, consistently dominating games through his neat passing and technical ability.
Aston Villa will find out their next opponents in their FA Cup run on 10 February at 7pm, as they try to win the competition for the first time since 1957.
Emi Martinez shows the value of a reliable goalkeeper after Kinsky mistake
World Cup winner and two-time Yashin Trophy winner Martinez has been a key player for Villa in their ascendancy towards the top of English football.
It is easy to forget that Villa were a Championship side in the 2018/19 season, but thanks in part to Martinez, the club are now vying to qualify for the Champions League for the second season on the trot.
Having joined from Arsenal in 2020, Martinez has established himself as one of the world’s best goalkeepers, and he put on another good performance against Tottenham, making four saves against the North London side.