Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa: Albion kept out by marvellous Martinez

Have you ever had one of those nights out when you are single where you go to Shoosh and talk to as many girls as possible to see how you get on, only to end up in Buddies alone at 3am waiting for the first train home? That was Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa.

The Albion registered 26 shots against Villa, the most they have ever had in a Premier League game. Whereas in months gone by the problem has been getting things on target, on this occasion nine of those efforts were on goal. What stopped this being a massacre was a stunning show of goalkeeping from Emiliano Martinez.

Brighton were linked with Martinez in the summer before he completed a £20 million move from Arsenal to Villa Park. The Albion are probably wishing they had done more to get him, if for no other reason than it would have meant Martinez was not in goal for Aston Villa and Brighton win by three or four rather than drawing 0-0.

The performance from the Argentinian is up there with Ben Foster at the Amex a couple of seasons ago which single-handedly earned Watford a 0-0 and a 47-year-old, 27-stone Neville Southall when Torquay United won 1-0 at Withdean in 1999 as the the best we have seen from an opposition goalkeeper.

Martinez made unreal saves from Alexis Mac Allister, Dan Burn, Joel Veltman and Danny Welbeck. Brighton could have played for six hours rather than 90 minutes and they still would have found no way past the Villa number one; that is no criticism of the Albion but praise instead of Martinez’s shot stopping ability on the night.

To have been so dominant against a Villa side who are no slouches continued the Albion’s recent good run of form. Villa should finish in the top 10 this season and they possess a formidable set of players in an attacking sense in Ross Barkley, Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins. Brighton though were so good that none of those could get a sniff.

Robert Sanchez kept his fifth clean sheet in six matches and he will not claim an easier shutout as the back three of Burn, Lewis Dunk and Ben White were superb.

Steve Alzate too did a decent job at left wing back but the real star of the show – other than Martinez – could be found over on the opposite flank.

The best way to describe Joel Veltman so far this season has been solid but spectacular. He never puts a foot wrong but because he is being compared to Tariq Lamptey at right wing back, Veltman does not get the praise he deserves.

Well, that seems to be changing now. The Dutchman was the best Brighton player on the pitch in the 0-0 draw with Aston Villa. He marked Grealish out of the game as if it were a gritty Netflix crime drama about a Brummie with a shit haircut being in the pocket of a suave and sophisticated Dutchman.

Grealish ended up picking up a first half booking for a crude challenge on Veltman as the Villa captain’s frustrations got the better of him.

Not even Grealish performing his normal tricks of diving on a par with Tom Daley and acting which would impress the woman who plays Sally in Coronation Street could not break Brighton’s dominance.

The only hairy moment that Albion fans had to undergo over the course of the entire evening came before the game when Graham Potter did his pre-match interview without his lucky old lady’s scarf.

Having lost 1-0 at Leicester City in midweek when Potter controversially shunned his neckwear, there were fears that the Brighton boss was about to ruin another 90 minutes of football by not wearing a scarf that has been as responsible for the Albion’s good recent run as consistency in selection, players in their correct positions and better defending.

Potter though knows the importance of the scarf, thank God. By kick off, he was safely sporting it. So too were loads of Brighton supporters who have all rushed out and bought their own in homage to the Albion manager’s new fashion look and were proudly sharing their photos on Twitter.

Oh to be a fly-on-the-wall in Paul Barber’s office on Monday morning when our profit-obsessed deputy chairman goes mad after realising the money-making opportunity the club have missed from being able to charge £30 for a Potter Scarf through the club shop when everyone has already bought for £15 from ASOS.

If Barber is reading this and is after other money-making schemes, then how about a Brighton on TV Bingo Card? Fans at home can tick off the stock phrases that every Sky Sports or BT commentator reels off for Albion matches, such as Burn being tall, White playing for The Leeds United and Mac Allister having Scottish heritage.

We got all of those inside the first 10 minutes of Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa. We also had our first two chances in that timeframe, both of which were off target as Burn and Mac Allister headed wide when in promising positions from Leandro Trossard and Veltman crosses.

Veltman drew the first save of the evening out of Martinez when the Flying Dutchman skipped forward and cut inside, only to see his low effort parried away by the Villa goalkeeper.

By now, Villa were beginning to realise that their only chance of stopping a Brighton side in such flowing form was to foul them. That gave the Albion a couple of free kicks in promising positions. Mac Allister fired over from one and Pascal Gross saw his effort kept out by Martinez.

Neal Maupay’s early shot gave the Villa goalkeeper a bit of a surprise but he still managed to divert it. Trossard was the next to be denied when his shot arrowing for the top corner was pushed over the bar.

That was followed by Martinez’s best save of the evening, a stunning full stretch dive and the feintest of fingertips turning Burn’s header around the post.

The second half followed much the same pattern. Martinez showed he could do unconventional goalkeeping as well as the spectacular when he had to stick out a leg to block Mac Allister’s distance strike after it took a slight deflection off the knee of John McGinn.

It was back to the spectacular for Martinez’s next trick with a flying stop to push another Veltman drive over the bar. Trossard hit the side netting and there were questions about Maupay’s decision making as he tried to go it alone and ended up running the ball off the pitch when a simple pass would have found Gross unmarked and with the entire goal to aim at.

Sure, Martinez probably would have saved it with the evening he was having, but it might have been nice to find out rather than seeing Maupay haplessly gift Villa a goal kick.

That was Maupay’s last contribution as he was hauled for Danny Welbeck with 10 minutes left to play. Dat Guy would have made an instant impact were it not for Martinez, who showed brilliant reactions to keep out Welbeck’s flicked effort from a Adam Lallana cross.

Even though Brighton could find no way past Martinez, they still managed to record some important milestones in drawing 0-0 with Aston Villa.

The Albion have now reached 26 Premier League points in fewer games than ever before. Six unbeaten is a new top flight club-record. And although not a record as such, Sanchez and his defence deserve a huge amount of credit for conceding just once in that run of games without defeat.

Next up, the small matter of Crystal Palace at the Amex. Palace are dreadful at the moment, Brighton in their midst of a purple patch delivering the best results and performances we have seen in their time in the Premier League. What could possibly go wrong…