Toni Martinez has proven his worth as a squad player for FC Porto in recent weeks. The Spanish striker has donned the Porto colours since 2020 and has been a faithful servant whenever called upon. He has played more often in the domestic cup competitions as manager Sergio Conceicao has prioritised other players for Liga Portugal and the UEFA Champions League. With Porto still fighting on all fronts for possible glory and amidst a brief injury crisis within the squad, Toni Martinez has been given a run of games in Liga Portugal, and he has returned the favour by making some important contributions. The 25-year-old’s impactful performances have helped Porto achieve some positive results and keep their campaign on track. Below, we look at some stats from the current season to assess the striker’s contributions towards his team.
2022-23 season with Porto
Toni Martinez has made 22 league appearances this season, starting seven matches. A 6-foot-2 centre-forward, he comes with physicality and a vertical advantage. Besides his finishing ability in front of the goal, he can link up play with his ability to hold onto the ball. The above viz shows the percentile rank of the player’s stats compared to other centre-forwards in Liga Portugal. His attacking prowess is highlighted by his high rank for indicators like expected goal contributions, shots, and penalty area touches. For the defensive side of things, his ability to contest and win aerial duels is excellent, and he also does decently in terms of defensive duels.
Martinez has scored four goals in Liga Portugal, with two of them coming in recent matches against Chaves and Rio Ave. He has taken 38 shots thus far and accumulated a total of 5.75 xG. Martinez averages 3.72 shots per 90 minutes in Liga Portugal, with an accuracy rate of 44.7%. The shot map shows that most of the attempts came from the centre of the penalty box, including a few from in and around the six-yard box with good accuracy. Martinez’s tall figure also allows him to contest aerial duels, particularly inside the opposition’s box. He averages as many as 8.9 aerial duels with a 51.6% success rate.
2021-22 season with Porto
Last season, Toni Martinez made 19 league appearances and started only four matches. He has taken 20 shots at 0.14 xG per shot and scored three goals in Liga Portugal. He averaged 3.15 shots per match and had an accuracy rate of 50%. The pizza chart above provides an overview of his performances last season. He was contributing more in the build-up phase, as highlighted by a better rank in some of the passing indicators. This season, he possesses much-improved stats in the attacking department as well as in the defensive parameters, highlighting the impact he has generated despite not being a regular starter.
Chance creation and ball progression
In addition to finding the back of the net himself, Martinez also creates scoring opportunities for others. The above viz shows the shot assists delivered by Martinez in the current Liga Portugal campaign. He has recorded three assists thus far with an xA value of 2.09. It can be observed that some of the key passes are inside the penalty box in the form of layoffs, while the few others have been progressive passes. Currently, Martinez averages 0.78 shot assists per 90 minutes and has also created five big chances.
Martinez acts as a mobile forward and performs a few dribbles and progressive runs to stretch the opposition’s lines. According to the viz above, the striker attempts the majority of the dribbles in and around the penalty box and executes these actions with success. He also makes a few progressive runs towards the opposition box while breaking forward. Currently, Martinez averages 1.66 dribbles with a 58.8% success rate and 0.6 progressive runs per match. Additionally, he enjoys 5.28 touches of the ball inside the penalty area per 90 minutes.
Winning back possession
Another way the Spaniard contributes to the team is by recovering the ball in the final third. He presses the opposition players inside their half and wins possession back for his team. This is evident through the ten counter-pressing and three dangerous recoveries he has made. On average, the 25-year-old makes 1.57 recoveries per 90 minutes. 87.5% of these recoveries have come in the attacking half, including five inside the opposition penalty box, three of which have led to shots.
Toni Martinez has shown his significance as an impactful player for Porto. Apart from getting attacking returns in the form of goals, he also contributes to the team with his chance creation and additional abilities on and off the ball. Porto will hope for the same level of performance from the 25-year-old when called upon as they look to continue the fight across competitions and make it a successful campaign.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
