Sh*thouse chief Emi Martinez mocks Juventus goalkeeper over ‘soft contact’ that cost Aston Villa

Emiliano Martinez mocked Juventus’ Michele Di Gregorio after Aston Villa were denied a late winner on Wednesday when the goalkeeper was adjudged to have been fouled by Diego Carlos.

An uneventful game finished 0-0 at Villa Park but Unai Emery thought his side had grabbed all three points at the death when Morgan Rogers put the ball into an empty net after Di Gregorio dropped a Youri Tielemans cross.

But the goal was ruled out when the referee penalised Carlos as the Brazilian jumped up with the Italian stopper from the free-kick.

Emery believes the goal would have stood the majority of the time in the Premier League, insisting it was a “very soft contact” on Di Gregorio.

“I am very happy because we won a point. We played a very competitive match. We were dominating the match to try to get three points,” said Emery.

“The last action is clear. It’s the interpretation of the referee. We know in England, it’s 80% not a foul, but in Europe, maybe not. For me it was harsh. In England, I know it’s not a foul usually, because it was a very soft contact. But in Europe, it could be foul.

“I think the referee, in the beginning, he was giving it as a goal. We have to accept his decision.

“We played a serious match. We played trying to avoid the mistakes we made from the last matches. We were playing better and I think we more or less deserved to win the match than them.”

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In typical sh*thouse style, Martinez confronted the Juventus goalkeeper after the game, appearing to mock him for feigning injury.

Martinez was seen laughing and holding his side in imitation of his opposite number, who fell to the floor having barely been touched by Carlos.

Striker Watkins agreed with his manager on the decision, saying: “I think it was soft. Maybe in the Premier League, it’s a goal. But in Europe, the goalkeepers are protected a lot. It’s one of them.

“I thought we scored. But to be fair, this game had a 0-0 written all over it.

“Obviously, I have to be careful talking about the referee, but it’s different in this competition. We are used to it now. Sometimes it goes against you and sometimes it goes in your favour.

“It’s a positive result. The fans want to see a lot of goals and we do ourselves too, but the most important thing was that we didn’t lose tonight.

“Juventus are a massive team and they played well. We kept them out and now we move onto the weekend.”