Speaking after the game, Martinez’s boss, Unai Emery, was unhappy with the complacency shown by his shot-stopper. The Spanish coach, via BirminghamLive, said: “Pau was getting his position to play with this pass and then through those passes to feel good and, in that case, lost the ball. Of course, to build in our structure strong and not to concede the chances we conceded.
“It was easy for Salah. It was a huge mistake but one thing in our process under my responsibility. I accept it, and we build a team here through the style we want to keep in our process in the club and in the next matches.”
Emery continued to insist that “we must avoid huge mistakes like we made today in the first goal we conceded.” He added that he will have to reflect on the game and that Villa will work on their build-up play to avoid making such faux pas going forward.
Martinez was less humble in defeat and turned to Instagram to offer his own thoughts. Captioning a post of two black-and-white photos of himself, the goalkeeper said: “I never lose. I either win or I learn.”