‘A real error’ – Pundit slams Aston Villa ace for gaffe in Leipzig

Aston Villa strengthened their hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout staged via a top-eight finish with a massive 3-2 victory at RB Leipzig last night.

Unai Emery’s side were in fine goalscoring form in the end-to-end contest at the Red Bull Arena, claiming a crucial win that sent the Germans crashing out of the competition with a whimper.

Villa were off to a flyer as skipper John McGinn fired them into the lead barely three minutes into the game, marking the club’s third-earliest goal in major European competition.

Lois Openda drew the Germans back level to ensure both sides went into the half-time interval level, but the second half sparked into life when Jhon Duran restored Villa’s lead in the 52nd minute.

Christoph Baumgartner pounced on a pin-point cross from Openda to draw Leipzig level again, but Ross Barkley emerged from the bench to win the entertaining contest for Villa.

Villa got the win, but BBC pundit Paul Robinson was far from impressed with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, especially after Leipzig’s second equaliser.

“That’s a real sucker punch for Aston Villa because that is an absolute smash and grab by RB Leipzig,” Robinson said on BBC Live.

“It’s a lovely finish by Baumgartner, but Emi Martinez, he’s had nothing to do in this game.

“He’s made a real error of judgement reading the through-ball for the first goal – he’s just done it again.

“He’s stood at the edge of his box – he could come out and deal with that, but he doesn’t.

“He allows Openda all the time in the world, floats the ball to the back post to Baumgartner, and it’s a fantastic volley.”

Despite Martinez’s mishap for the second goal, he had a decent outing in Germany, making four saves to help Villa claim a crucial win.

However, he’ll be hoping to perform better when Villa returns to Premier League duties with a tricky trip to Nottingham Forest next weekend.

Stats from Sofascore.com.