TOUCHABLES

Villa hero Martinez gives divine display to thwart Seagulls as battle of the keepers Heats up

ue – including 11 straight s – to storm to the top. We had a moment when were 12th in the table, en we were five points ay from Tottenham,” said ardiola. “They were top of league when we lost there. Now we’re 17 points in front of them. That shows how consistent we’ve been, how we’ve turned around the situation. That means a lot.

“When you’re winning and winning, it’s easier to win the next one. The more difficult thing is when you want to win games after two or three defeats. That’s difficult, like when we travelled to Southampton in December after our draw against West Brom.

“We have a huge opportunity to extend our lead against Everton (on Wednesday night). We know how tough it is against Everton but it is a good opportunity to increase our lead at the top.

“In February or March, nobody is champions. This run of victories will only make sense if you are able to win the titles.”

A first-half penalty from Rodri and two second-half strikes from Premier League Player of the Month Ilkay Gundogan (above) gave City, whose scheduled game against Everton on December 29 was postponed because of a Covid-19 outbreak, an easy victory.

Guardiola may claim the collective is stronger than the individual at the Etihad, but Gundogan’s recent form has made him easily City’s most influential performer.

In the absence of Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, German star Gundogan has stepped up with 10 goals in his last 10 league games.

With 15 games left to play, City look unstoppable.

The title they last won two years ago, when they finished just one point above great rivals Liverpool, is theirs to lose. But in such irresistible form, there seems little chance of them imploding.

EMILIANO MARTINEZ’S stunning man-of-the-match display to keep Brighton at bay was no surprise to manager Dean Smith.

After all, he has a 6ft 2in stick to threaten him with, in the shape of Tom Heaton.

“You need a goalkeeper with experience and we got it last year with Tom,” Smith said. “But he was not fit for the start of this season, so we invested in another keeper with Premier League experience.

“Emi was ready to be a No.1 and Arsenal already had Bernd

Leno, so the opportunity arose to bring him here.

“He knows, though, he has got Tom Heaton nipping at his heels all the time. He has to be on his toes.”

Martinez (above and right) was like a ballerina in the first half, twisting gracefully to tip Leandro Trossard’s drive over the bar and, from the corner, he managed to extend himself fully again, to prevent Dan Burn opening his Brighton account with a far-post header.

Albion cranked things up a notch in the second half and Martinez was nearly caught out just after the break by an Alexis Mac Allister shot.

The Villa keeper actually dived too far, and was relieved to see the ball hit his hip and bounce away to safety. Best of all, though, was the overhand left-arm block from Joel Veltman’s fierce strike, before a less photogenic bundling of the ball around the foot of a post when Danny Welbeck sniffed a late chance.

Veltman admitted he thought he had scored.

“I nearly scored my first goal,” he said. “My effort was blocked by the defender and then Emi Martinez pulls off a great save to keep it out. I was already celebrating! I am disappointed as it would have been the winner.”

Netting winners was hardly the Dutchman’s job though – he had enough on his plate keeping Jack Grealish out of the game. The fact he did so in

such a professional and dogged manner was very much a factor in the Seagulls’ fifth clean sheet in six games – a statistic that means when Albion can score, it counts massively.

“I can be an annoying opponent to play against,” Veltman said. “With players like Grealish, you have to be on him from his first touch. I reckon I did a great job against him.

“In the games against Liverpool and Spurs, we only scored one goal, but our work off the ball has been really good in the last few weeks and, as a result, we have kept clean sheets.

“We created more chances against Villa and they will be happier with the point than us.”