Emi’s Into Villa’s Record Books With Outstanding Friedel On 15

When Aston Villa made the move for 28-year-old Argentine international goalkeeper, Emi Martinez, last summer, plenty of eyebrows were raised – particularly as we paid Arsenal a reported £17million for his services.

Martinez had had a good 2019/20 campaign for Arsenal as he stepped up and proved his worth, but most Villans were simply waiting for Tom Heaton to get back up to speed and regain his rightful position between the sticks. Opinions were certainly peaked when we saw the outrage of Gooners fans as they allowed him to move on, and plenty wondered if we’d unexpectedly picked up a gem.

Fast forward to the second half of the 2020/21 campaign, and with 35 appearances now under his belt, we more than know the deal was daylight robbery.

Emi has been outstanding for us, and yes, there have been a few hiccups as the side as a whole hit some poor form in 2021, but it’s undeniable that Emi has been worth at least ten points to us so far this season with the stops he has pulled off.

Despite our form tailing off, Villa have long been sat in third place in the clean sheet table and with 14 shut outs to his name, Emi has long been in the hunt for the Golden Glove award.

He’s had to wait for a while given our form, but against Everton earlier this evening, it got slightly better as he registered his 15th clean sheet of the campaign and that puts him into our record books as he has now equalled Brad Friedel’s Premier League record of 15 clean sheets going back to the 2009/10 season.

Well done Emi, thoroughly deserved given your performances this year.

⛔️ @emimartinezz1 ⛔️

A 15th #PL clean sheet of the season ties Brad Friedel’s club record. 👏 pic.twitter.com/JPbP1QVuKj

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) May 13, 2021