Aston Villa met Nottingham Forest at dawn on Sunday (15) in one of the Premier League's biggest matches. The highlight of the game was Argentinean goalkeeper Damian Martinez's '360 degree' save, which has been described as one of the greatest saves in Premier League history. However, Villa conceded two goals in the dying moments of the game and lost 1-2.
The game was full of fireworks from the start. In the 60th minute, Forest's Nicolas Duminkis came close to scoring with two 'Dockinghammer' shots in front of the goal. Luckily for Villa, Martinez's quick reflexes and accurate saves prevented a shot from reaching the white line with a gesture, and then a big clearance from a teammate prevented the goal from being conceded. Villa did not start the game on the back foot. Zohan Duran's flying header came close to breaking the deadlock three minutes later. But Forest did not give up and they launched a frantic attack in the closing stages of the game.
In the 87th minute, Nichola Mee tied the game at Highfield, and in stoppage time, Elanga's "killer" goal made it 2-1 in favor of Forest, which was an exciting storyline. Former England international Lerner marveled at Martinez's save: "I've never seen a better save in the Premier League. If we had to use an analogy, we'd have to mention Gordon Binns saving Billy's hammer shot! The reaction of Martinez was unbelievable, not only did he stop a wave of attacks, but he also let the opposition out of the shadow of Polafan!"
