For Emiliano Martínez, this chilly evening in Aston must have felt strangely reminiscent of the World Cup on the Persian Gulf last month. There was the magnificent point-blank save to deny Jack Harrison and Leeds a certain equaliser on the brink of half-time; a replica of the free-kick routine from which Wout Weghorst, the Netherlands striker who has just joined Manchester United, scored to force extra-time in the quarter-final; there were the dark arts, perfected by Villa, that infuriated Jesse Marsch on the touchline. And, ultimately, there was a sweet victory at the end of it all.
By contrast, the last few months have represented a pretty miserable existence for Marsch, not that you would know it given the buoyant tone of his 13-minute post-match press conference, in which he insisted this was his side’s most complete performance since he took charge last February. Marsch’s demeanour was a world away from a manager worried about whether he would survive until Wednesday’s FA Cup third-round replay at home to Cardiff but the reality is, dating back to August, Leeds have won two of their past 17 matches in all competitions. They have kept one clean sheet in their past 13 matches and remain 14th, two points above the relegation zone. In a week in which Marsch joined LinkedIn, the networking website, it is hard not to think the American could soon find himself out of work.
