What Happened Between Ronaldo And Villa Goalkeeper Before Fernandes’ Penalty

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Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes against Aston Villa.

REUTERS/Phil Noble

Aston Villa took a deserved win from Old Trafford this afternoon but Emiliano Martinez hoarded all the spotlight.

Kortney Hause’s lone goal towards the end of the game was enough to get Villa past the finish line. Manchester United had the chance to pull one back, but Bruno Fernandes could not find the net from the spot.

A rather unusual occurrence, but anyone who observed the build-up to the penalty kick could see it was Martinez who forced the Portuguese to err. Prior to the penalty kick, the former Arsenal man can be seen daring Cristiano Ronaldo to take it.

To the Argentine, it was just a show of confidence – a display of bravery, that he can take on one of the best finishers ever. But the person who really got affected by the incident was Fernandes. The midfielder was visibly annoyed at the goalkeeper for neglecting him – the designated penalty taker who clearly had the ball in his hand.

As a result, the playmaker decided to not go with his standard technique and ended up smashing the ball out of bounds after which the Villa No. 1 proceeded to dance. There is no doubt that the Argentina international forced this mistake from the Red Devils.

 

The Villa shot-stopper is notorious for trash talking and trying to get into the opponent’s head during such situations. The Copa America is the perfect example of this.

On the other hand, the incident also goes on to show the confidence with which Villa played against United. The former Sampdoria man is usually associated with a solid mentality, but a small incident caused him to lose his composure. The visitors controlled the game from start to finish; the altercation was merely the final trigger.