Arsenal fans have shown there will be no sympathy towards Emiliano Martinez after his own goal earned them a vital victory.
The Gunners faced off against their former keeper on Saturday in desperate need of all three points. Mikel Arteta’s side took on Aston Villa after a run of three Premier League games without a win had seen them surrender their place at the summit.
But away from the obvious storylines, it was a fixture filled with intrigue with Unai Emery in the home side’s dugout and Martinez in their goal. Emery, who was replaced by Arteta in 2019, had his charges raring to go and they took the lead in the opening stages through Ollie Watkins.
That was cancelled out by Bukayo Saka, only for Philippe Coutinho to restore Villa’s lead before the half-time break. Oleksandr Zinchenko got Arsenal level for the second time with half-hour to go, but that was only a hint of the drama which was yet to unfold.
With seconds ticking away and the Gunners seemingly resigned to dropping more points, Jorginho fired an outrageous strike off the bar. However, rather than the Italian’s effort bouncing away from harm, it deflected down, onto Martinez’s head and into the back of the net.
For the travelling Arsenal fans, it felt like a case of justice being served after the Argentine spent the majority of the second half trying to wind the clock down. The World Cup winner was eventually booked for his delaying tactics, which ultimately led to the six minutes of stoppage time.
That afforded his old side enough time to not only score once, but to put the game completely out of reach with a second. Emery ripped into his keeper for ignoring instructions and going up for a corner in the final seconds, with Gunners fans revelling in his mistakes.
Martinez has yet to respond to his manager, but that hasn’t stopped Arsenal supporters rubbing salt into his wounds, replying in their droves to an apology from last week. He last posted following the defeat to Manchester City, saying the fans deserved better - a post which is now home to hundreds of jubilant Arsenal responses.
“Arsenal legend,” one reply says. “Did you try holding the ball for 30 seconds every time and then heading it in your own net?” Another post jokes.
A third fan chimed in with: “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GREAT GOALIE, THANK YOU FOR THE THREE POINTS,” while another said: “Once a gunner always a gunner Thank you Emi!”
His error of judgement was no laughing matter for Emery though, who tore into Martinez following a third successive Premier League defeat.
“I have never told my goalkeeper to go and score one goal in the 90th minute, because maybe – and I don’t know the data – maybe one goal in 100, maybe 20 times they [the opponents] are doing a counter transition and they are scoring 10 goals," he told BT Sport.
"Today I am very disappointed and it is embarrassing for me, the last goal. Because I never told my goalkeeper to go to a corner to score a goal. It is not the spirit, we have to keep our mind clear and smart," Emery added.
“You have to play 90 minutes. I never told my goalkeeper to do it. But today he decided it was his decision. He was not doing something about my decision because I didn't tell him, but now he knows. He knows now."
