Wilfried Zaha absolutely rattles Emiliano Martinez after scoring a rebound from his penalty miss during Crystal Palace’s win vs Aston Villa.
Zaha bagged a brace and Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the other as Patrick Vieira’s side came from a goal down to pick up their first win of the season.
Ollie Watkins got Villa off to a flying start early on, only for Zaha to cancel it out with an instant reply, his second strike of the season.
The Ivory Coast international then had the chance to make it 2-1 in the 58th minute when Lucas Digne was penalised for handball, a spot kick being awarded.
Martinez, who is known for going to extreme lengths in a bid to put off the taker, dived the right way and made a save with his left-hand.
However, he ended up sending the ball back into the path of Zaha, who hit home at the second attempt before staring out Martinez, then laughing and cupping his ears as he celebrated with teammates with Martinez seen in the background trying to get at him.
Wilfred Zaha teasing Martinez 😂 pic.twitter.com/e8slkqh8u7
— afc (@afcxman_) August 20, 2022
Mateta managed to seal the win in the second half with a well taken strike from Tyrick Mitchell’s cross sent in from the left, only a minute after replacing Edouard..
Many will remember when last season Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes skied a 92nd minute penalty over the bar against Martinez at Old Trafford, the former Arsenal man celebrated by performing a humping dance in front of the Stretford End.
So it’s fair to say he should know all to well about mocking the opposition…
Emiliano. Martinez. That’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/471dzOupbX
— Jasper (@MCFC_Jas) September 25, 2021
Patrick Vieira called Wilfried Zaha “a fighter” after his brace helped Crystal Palace to a memorable 3-1 win over Aston Villa.
Asked whether he felt Zaha was being targeted by the opposition, Vieira said the winger is used to such treatment but plays better and harder as a result.
“I loved his performance and don’t want him to change,” Vieira said. “He’s a fighter. When it’s tough he puts his sleeves up and is going into the fight. Today he was really good, really good for the team – worked well and defended well from the front. That allowed us to win the ball high up the field and create those chances.
“I think this is what he has to expect. The quality of his talent makes it really difficult for the opponent and sometimes they target him like they did today. I want him to be more calm but at times it’s really difficult. The referee was quite good today and that allowed him to stay into the game and play as well as he did.
“Ebs is getting better and better,” he said. “When the team play like that it allows him to show his quality. He loves the game, is a football player and loves to have the ball at his feet. Today it’s his best performance since he came back.”
Finally, the manager commented on the performance across the team, saying he’s “delighted” with what he saw.
“I’m really pleased, delighted. We had a really good performance today. We went through a difficult period but we remained calm, determined and competed well. At times we played some really good football today so I’m really pleased with the quality and attitude we showed today.
“It was important to try to answer [Villa’s early goal] straight away. We scored that goal really early and were really up for it. I was pleased with that.”
Steven Gerrard felt Aston Villa took a step backwards during Saturday’s Premier League loss against Crystal Palace.
“It’s a step backwards on the back of last week,” he said.
“We started this game really well, got ourselves in front, scored a really good goal and it was the perfect start for us. We looked dangerous going forward but we didn’t keep the lead for long enough.
“We allowed Crystal Palace back into the game. The game was in the balance for an hour and then there was a big, big decision that went against us with the penalty.
“We didn’t react well enough to going 2-1 down. We were really unlucky that when the goalkeeper’s made a fantastic save, they get the follow-up. I think the penalty’s really harsh on us.
“For large parts of this game we were well in it at a tough place. The game’s run away from us. In big moments we haven’t defended well enough, and we’ve been punished.”
He said: “I want them to stick together more. I want them to be harder to play against.
“I want them to be diligent with the information that we’re giving them in terms of out of possession. I want them to run hard and win duels.
“We were second best in too many departments today.”
FAN REACTION
@adamrenshaw97: All for Zaha getting in Martinez’s head
@JEZ_THFC: Zaha telling Martinez to stay down after he’s embarrassed him In front of his own 😂 #palace #villa #pen
@reecetay_29: just hope Zaha knows Martinez would fuck him up
@DennisAlexx: Lmao Zaha staring down Martinez. I love it
@AVFCTobias: Zaha is an absolute shithouse but you’ve gotta respect it lol
@up_the_ARSE_nal: That look Zaha gave martinez 🤣🤣👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻
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