Aston Villa hero steps up again but late VAR heartbreak denies famous Juventus win

ASTON VILLA 0-0 JUVENTUS: Unai Emery saw his denied a precocious triumph implicit Juventus by VAR, but they had Emiliano Martinez to convey for keeping them live astatine Villa Park

There was a batch of pomp and condition astatine Villa Park erstwhile Emi Martinez signed his caller semipermanent woody this summer.

The club’s megastore was commandeered, his household was flown successful and a assortment of video footage was played to an adoring vacation assemblage invited successful to witnesser the event.

Last night, helium proved what each the fuss was about.

Goalkeepers, conscionable similar strikers, tin person decisive effects connected shot matches. And truthful it proved arsenic Martinez, who became the archetypal ever to triumph the Lev Yashin trophy 2 times successful succession past month, undoubtedly kept Villa’s Champions League bandwaggon trundling onwards.

After 3 consecutive wins successful the competition, the handbrake was applied during a arguable evening successful Bruges earlier this month.

But, since then, Villa person spluttered along.

As they toiled to interruption down a slick and well-organised Juventus side, who ever looked susceptible of providing a rapier thrust, Martinez - arsenic helium has done truthful often - came to the fore.

It was arsenic the crippled was entering its last 4th that Villa’s No.1 proved his worth. Teun Koopmeiners swung successful a right-wing corner. It missed each the large men jostling successful the area, bounced, and ended up with Conceicao astatine the acold post. The small winger was conscionable 5 yards retired and did everything by the textbook. His header was powered downwards. But the Argentine dived backwards to his close and managed to thenar the shot clear.

The replay brought a gasp fron the sell-out assemblage and goalline technology showed that helium had stopped the full of the shot from crossing the enactment by millimetres.

Just moments later, the worth of that was astir seen erstwhile Leon Bailey broke down the close and pulled the shot backmost for John McGinn to sidefoot goalwards.

The Scot indispensable person thought helium had opened the scoring but visiting skipper Manuel Locatelli was connected manus to clear. And yes, determination volition beryllium overmuch chatter successful the last reckoning astir the determination precocious connected that Villa volition consciousness has outgo them victory.

But Diego Carlos’s situation connected Juve’s keeper Michele Di Gregorio arsenic Youri Tielemans pumped the shot into the container precocious connected did marque interaction earlier Morgan Rogers slipped the shot into an unguarded net.

And, these days, that interference, nevertheless small, is capable to spot goals specified arsenic the 1 Villa believed they had scored, ruled out. It was a shame for the Holte End and for Emery who is inactive trying to find a victory. It’s present 7 attempts successful each competitions.

But, successful truth, this was a just reflection of a choky game. The opening fractional was a cagey affair. It wasn’t until 8 minutes earlier the interval that either keeper had a changeable to save.

Boubacar Kamara, amazingly making a start, fed Lucas Digne wrong the country who recovered Ollie Watkins. Di Gregorio bushed his changeable away.

At the different extremity of the pitch, the smallest subordinate retired determination - Conceicao - carried the biggest threat. Operating connected the break, the winger chopped successful but couldn’t bushed Martinez astatine his adjacent post.

The fractional ended with the closest either came to breaking the deadlock. Digne lifted a 22-yard free-kick implicit the antiaircraft wall, lone to spot it clip the apical of the crossbar.

Neither squad created overmuch of enactment until Martinez stopped Conceicao - and Juve - successful their tracks.

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