Marcus Rashford responds as Emi Martinez hits major Aston Villa milestone

03/31/2025 01:30 PM

Marcus Rashford responded on social media to an Aston Villa club post regarding star keeper Emi Martinez.

Rashford netted his first and second goals for Villa in their dominant 3-0 win over Preston North End, in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday (30 march).

The Championship side held firm for the first hour of the game, before finally succumbing to the pressure placed on them by the Premier League side when the England international scored in the 59th minute.

Just five minutes later, Rashford doubled his tally with a penalty, won by the talented Morgan Rogers.

In the 71st minute, Jacob Ramsey capped off a fine second half for the Villains, slotting home from inside the penalty box, setting up a semi-final with Crystal Palace, who dispatched of a dismal Fulham the day prior (29 March).

Emi Martinez marks 200th Aston Villa appearance with clean sheet

Villa’s 3-0 win over Preston marked Martinez‘s 200th appearance for the Midlands side, since joining from Arsenal in 2020.

The Argentinean shot-stopper has become one of the world’s very best since making the switch, winning the Yashin Trophy, and FIFA’s Best goalkeeper award twice each.

To celebrate the achievement, Villa posted an image of the 32-year-old to their Instagram account, captioned: “A clean sheet on his 200th Villa appearance”.

Rashford then responded with a fire emoji, showing his support for the goalkeeper.

Aston Villa have Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio decisions to make

Football Insider Verdict

For as much as they may love to have both Rashford and Marco Asensio join permanently, Unai Emery’s side may not be able to afford to sign both.

The pair’s loan deals were paid off by Villa qualifying to the last-eight of the Champions League.

However, with both being extremely well paid by their parent clubs, with Rashford on a reported £350,000-a-week and Asensio reportedly earning £230,000-a-week, the Villains may struggle to fit both players onto an already bloated payroll.

A more realistic scenario than signing both would be for the Midlands side to sign one of them, but choosing between the two is no mean feat.

Whilst Asensio has delivered more in terms of goals, the Spaniard is two years older than the English winger and is currently displacing Morgan Rogers from being able to play in his more favoured position behind Ollie Watkins.

So, Rashford then? Well, the Man United winger’s wages are their own issue, without accounting for his reported £40million release clause.

The decision may well be made for Villa, if Barcelona decide to sign the England international, but unless or until that happens the Villains have a difficult decision ahead of them this summer.

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