Smith Blasts Sloppy Villa After Scoreless Brighton Draw

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith blasted his side for their toothless performance in a scoreless draw at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday that required heroics from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to secure a point.

His side managed a single shot on target as Brighton dominated the game and only the superb goalkeeping of Martinez saved their blushes.

“Not even bang average, I have never seen us make so many unforced errors in a game, it was sloppy from start to finish but we had the resilience to keep the ball out of the net,” a frustrated Smith told Sky Sports.

“Emiliano Martinez made some good saves when needed and was our best player on the pitch tonight. It shows you need a player like that at times, we have not had many performances like this where we have been second best,” he added.

Argentine goalkeeper Martinez said he was disappointed despite his excellent personal performance.

“We are looking to Europe, that is why I am frustrated today. We were not in the game since the first minute and Brighton deserved to win,” he told Sky Sports.

Brighton manager Graham Potter was left wondering how his side failed to score but he was still happy with the effort they put in.

“Frustrating, but pleasing because the performance was very good and we did everything but score. We had shots, had attacks and reduced Villa’s attacking players. We are disappointed with just the one point,” he told the BBC.

“Their goalkeeper made some really good saves and has been an important player for them. That is football but the overall performance, we had enough shots, attacks and goes at them to score, just not that last little luck you need,” Potter added.

Reuters