Argentine antics get to Bruno

ASTON VILLA goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez infuriated Manchester United by telling Bruno Fernandes to let Cristiano Ronaldo take his injury time spot-kick, Joe Bernstein writes.

Martinez held up the injury-time penalty by repeatedly pointing at Ronaldo (below) and appearing to insist that he should be given the penalty, contributing a two-minute delay amid chaotic scenes at Old Trafford.

Ole Gunnar Solkskaer, the United manager, accused Villa of trying to intimidate Fernandes, who eventually blasted his effort over the bar.

‘I didn’t enjoy, I didn’t like, the way they crowded the referee and the penalty spot and tried to affect him,’ Solskjaer said. ‘It clearly worked for them but that’s not great to see.

‘But they achieved what they needed to and got what they wanted, too.’

Martinez, the Argentinian keeper, has been accused of using similar dubious antics in the Copa America when trash-talking Yerry Mina before saving his penalty during a shoot-out victory over Colombia.

Yesterday, Fernandes missed only his second penalty in 23 attempts for United, which Martinez celebrated wildly (below right).

‘You will be making all these assumptions now on the reaction of players,’ Solskjaer added. ‘You know Bruno has been excellent. He is such a good penalty-taker and today you’d back him with your mortgage, I would guess.

‘That is football. Bruno will step forward every day of the week for club and the team. Sometimes it just don’t go your way. It is such a fine line between heaven and hell, and unfortunately today he missed.

Asked about the choice between Ronaldo and Fernandes for penalty-taker, Solskjaer said, ‘That is going to be the headline isn’t it? Bruno has been excellent and Cristiano is probably the one that has scored the most penalties in world football.

‘We have got great takers here and it is just a missed opportunity for us to get a point.’