Aston Villa reached their first major European semi-final since 1982 with a chaotic victory on penalties over Lille in the Europa Conference League.
In an extraordinary shootout after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate after extra time, Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez – who had been booked earlier for time-wasting – was shown another yellow card for appearing to gesture to home fans.
Martinez, who had already kept out Nabil Bentaleb’s attempt, was allowed to carry on as his initial booking was not carried over into the shootout.
The Argentina World Cup winner then went on to keep out Benjamin Andre’s attempt as Villa won 4-3 on penalties to advance to the last four.
Martinez then ran virtually the whole length of the pitch to celebrate in front of Villa’s jubilant 2,600 travelling fans.
Earlier in the shootout, Ollie Watkins was made to wait to take his penalty as there were two balls on the pitch before the England forward stepped up to score.
On a dramatic night in northern France, Unai Emery’s side were three minutes from going out after goals by Yusuf Yazici and Benjamin Andre wiped out Villa’s 2-1 advantage from the first leg.
But Matty Cash’s 87th-minute deflected strike – after goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier had dropped a cross – made it 3-3 on aggregate and forced extra time which did not produce any further goals leaving the tie to be decided by penalties.
Aston Villa will face the winners of Olympiakos against Fenerbahce in the semi-final. They were playing later on Thursday, with Olympiakos leading 3-2 from the first leg.
Martinez ignores the jeers
Martinez had been jeered throughout the game by Lille fans after his penalty heroics in Argentina’s World Cup final victory over France in 2022.
He was shown his first yellow card of the game in the first half for time-wasting, and there was confusion inside the ground when the Villa keeper was allowed to carry on after being booked again during the shootout – as the rules state yellow cards are not carried over into penalties.
It all added to the drama as Villa dug deep to ensure at least one English club will compete in a European semi-final this season after both Manchester City and Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday.
This was not Villa’s finest display by any stretch of the imagination but they dug deep to stay alive in the tie when 2-0 down before Cash provided a late lifeline.
The Europa Conference League might be Uefa’s third-tier competition but Villa are enjoying the ride.
By staying in it, they remain on course for a top-four finish in the Premier League and a first major European trophy for 42 years in Emery’s first full season in charge.
