Aston Villa dramatically booked their place in the Europa League semi-finals by winning a drama-filled penalty shootout, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez receiving his second yellow card but not being sent off.
Martinez was already walking a tightrope from the 28th minute when he was shown his first yellow card for wasting time, with Villa already 1-0 down on the night before getting back to 2-2 after Lille midfielder Yusuf Yazici’s superb opener.
Lille captain Benjamin Andre then doubled the home side’s lead to put them ahead in the tie, but Villa left-back Matty Cash leveled the scores in the final minutes, sending the match to extra time and penalties.
Martinez wasted no time in launching the mind games, grabbing the ball from the spot after Nabil Bentaleb, the former Tottenham midfielder, had set it up. It earned him a stern ruling from Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzliak.
Martinez was then given a second scolding as he celebrated saving Bentaleb’s penalty by putting his finger to his lips in an attempt to silence the home fans who had been booing him throughout, but Kruzliak’s patience ran out when Martinez gestured to the edge of the ball. the area. The referee ran to the Argentinian and showed him a yellow card for the second time in the match, but did not produce a red card.
Villa captain Douglas Luiz sprinted from the halfway line to confront Kruzliak, as oblivious to the rules as the rest of the stadium. But unbeknownst to him, Martinez had not been sent off because bookings from regular time or extra time do not carry over to a shootout.
Law 10 of the International Football Association Board Laws of the Game states: “Warnings and warnings given during the match (including during extra time) will not carry over into penalties from the penalty area (KFPM). A player who receives a yellow card during both the match and the KFPM will not be sent off the field of play. The two separate warnings are being reported to the appropriate authorities.”
As it was, Martinez stayed on the pitch to prove he was the hero once again as he made a second save to deny Ande and send Villa through to the last four.
Martinez: ‘It was my destiny to win here’
Martinez insisted it was his ‘destiny’ to continue Aston Villa’s European adventure after emerging as the hero in the penalty shoot-out despite being booked twice.
The Argentinian faced hatred throughout the evening in Lille after first infuriating French football fans following his country’s World Cup victory in Qatar 17 months ago.
“I always say that in my career I owe my teammates at those moments,” he said. “Even when we were watching Real Madrid last night, the manager said we might get penalties and in those moments I own my box.
“It’s been a hell of a ride my entire career. I am always a believer and a hard worker and it was my destiny to win here again.
“This group of players and the managers are special, the owners are also involved, they always support us.
“It feels like we’re going to do something special. I don’t know if it’s the Champions League or the Conference League, but we’re trying to do everything we can to push the football club.”
Martinez admitted he was confused with the rules after his two bookings by Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzliak.
After saving Lille’s first penalty from Bentaleb, he remained silent to the home fans and was shown a yellow card shortly afterwards for complaining that the ball was not on the penalty spot.
“It’s all about my reputation for wasting time because the other goalkeeper did exactly the same thing,” he said.
“I got booked after 30 minutes and we were losing the match, so I don’t know what the referee wants from me.
“Then there was no ball on the penalty spot and I asked for a ball from the ball boy and got a yellow card. I just don’t understand the rules.”
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