Emiliano Martinez believes Ollie Watkins should win the Player of the Season award after scoring his 19th goal of the Premier League season as Aston Villa stunned Arsenal at the Emirates.
Watkins scored the second as Villa hit two late goals to earn a 2-0 win in north London, a result that puts Unai Emery’s side in control in the race for Champions League qualification.
Arsenal entered the game as the form team in the Premier League after an unbeaten start to the calendar year, but were unable to break down a Villa side who deserved their three points.
The visitors impressed with Watkins and Youri Tielemans each hitting the woodwork before Leon Bailey came off the bench to open the scoring on 84 minutes.
Three minutes later, Watkins raced through to lift a finish over David Raya and inflict a damaging defeat on the title-chasing Gunners.
Watkins is now one behind Erling Haaland in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot. The 28-year-old also has a league-leading 10 assists and teammate Emiliano Martinez said the England forward should win the PFA Player of the Year award.
“I think Ollie should win player of the season,” Martinez told Sky Sports.
“When you play for a ‘big six’ side, you get more credit but Ollie has scored 19 goals with the chances he’s got. He should be a contender.”
Watkins also reflected on a ‘massive’ win for Villa and said it is ‘nice’ to be mentioned for the Player of the Season awards.
“It’s massive to come away to Arsenal when they’re playing such good football and controlling games, to play like that just shows where we’ve come and where we’re going,” Watkins said to Sky Sports.
“It was probably a perfect away performance.
“I grew up supporting Arsenal but it’s a different story now that I’m playing against them.
“Any win is a big result but considering the other results, we’re focusing on ourselves but we’re fighting for Champions League and we knew it was going to be tough today but we’ve shown what a good side we are.
“A lot of people doubted us, they thought we played good football but couldn’t get a result here. We’ve proved a lot of people wrong.”
On Martinez’s comments, he added: “It’s nice that he’s saying that, I’m just trying to let my football do the talking.
“I felt like I played well today, I grew into the game second half. Even if I’d come off without a goal, I’d have been happy with my performance but the little dink was nice.”
