Aston Villa drove out LOSC Lille on penalties shootout at Stade Pierre-Mauroy to advance to the Europa Conference League semi-finals. Yusuf Yazici opened the score in the first half and Benjamin André’s header in the second half made it 2-0 for the visitors. who had led 2-1 after the first leg.
With three minutes remaining in regulation time. Matty Cash, who had been the focal point of Villa’s greatest offensive openings. Came to his team’s rescue and leveled the score by putting a shot past Lucas Chevalier to send the match into extra time. In extra time, Lille’s goalie kept away a fantastic save from Douglas Luiz, and the extra thirty minutes ended goalless.
Emiliano Martínez played great role in shootout for Aston Villa
Aston Villa defeated Lille in the Conference League thanks to Emiliano Martínez’s two saves during the penalty shootout. Martínez performed admirably for Argentina in the World Cup final. The Copa America in 2021, and the quarterfinals. Two Aston Villa penalty kicks were saved by the Argentine. When the fans in their quarterfinal match against Lille in France whistled for Martínez. The match went to penalty kicks with the score tied at three points overall. The first kick was saved by Martínez.
However, the Villa goalie was permitted to continue playing. Creating a commotion at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy before stopping the game-winning penalty. Villa had led 2-1 after the first leg of the match last week. But it appeared like their hopes of winning a first European trophy since 1982. Would be dashed when Benjamin Andre and Yusuf Yazici gave Lille a two-goal lead and a 3-2 lead in the match in northern France.
Why did the goalkeeper for Aston Villa not receive a red card?
Before getting his second yellow card of the game, Emi Martinez stopped Lille’s first penalty. There was some confusion when he remained on the field instead of being sent off. And the Aston Villa goalkeeper then saved the game-winning penalty to advance his team to the semi-finals. Martinez, who was given a warning for his relentless mind games after receiving a yellow card for timewasting during the game, made a fantastic stop to deny Nabil Bentaleb’s attempt to give Villa the advantage in the shootout.
Due to the rule that stipulates yellow cards given during regular time are not carried over to penalty shootouts, the Argentine was given a second yellow card for his theatrics and looked to have been sent out. Leon Bailey of Villa subsequently missed his penalty kick, but Martinez saved the day by blocking Benjamin Andre’s attempt to give Unai Emery’s team a 4-3 shootout victory.
Aston will face Olympiacos in the semi-finals
Villa’s thrilling victory over LOSC Lille on Thursday night guaranteed them a spot in the competition’s final four. Unai Emery’s team was down 2-0 on the evening despite leading 2-1 in the first leg at Villa Park. However, in the 87th minute, Matty Cash scored a goal to make it 3-3 overall and force extra time and penalties in the quarterfinal. Villa secured their semi-final spot by winning 4-3 on spot-kicks, with Emi Martínez emerging as the shootout hero.
And now Olympiacos will meet them. The Greek team advanced to extra time and a shootout after losing 1-0 in Istanbul on Thursday after winning the first leg 3-2 at home. After moving from the UEFA Europa League, Olympiacos defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv in the round of 16 and Ferencváros in their play-off for the knockout phase. On Thursday, May 2, the first leg is slated to take place at Villa Park.
