Aston Villa did something they haven’t done in years at Lille’s win, and it’s not encouraging

After beating Lille on penalties, Aston Villa made it to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League in an exciting way. However, Unai Emery’s team had a hard time.

If you could picture every possible turn and twist in a football game, that’s about how exciting Aston Villa’s second-leg Europa Conference League quarterfinal against Lille was.

Unai Emery’s team made it to the final four of the competition in the end thanks to penalties. Even the shootout was exciting because Emi Martinez stole the show with his goalkeeping skills and his enjoyment of being Lille’s villain.

For Villa’s efforts, the home team will feel a little cheated because the Premier League team didn’t pose much of a threat for the whole game, and Matty Cash’s equalizer came late because of a mistake by the goalkeeper.

They did it against LOSC Lille for the first time in more than two years.
Emery’s team had a tough game, which was clear all through it but especially in the first half.

One thing Villa did in the first 45 minutes that they hadn’t done in over two years was hold the other team without a single shot on goal before halftime.

Lille deserves a lot of credit because they made it very hard for Emery’s team to keep the ball and build play towards the goal, as the figure shows.

Read our Aston Villa player grades vs Lille here

While the hosts greatly tested the Premier League team, it was glaringly obvious which side had the busier schedule, as Villa were to blame for their own shortcomings as they looked to be a completely different side to the one that beat Arsenal on Sunday.

Aston Villa fought hard against Lille to reach the semi-final

It was a far from glamorous performance from Emery’s side, who failed to present even glimpses of the quality that was on show against Arsenal last week, but that won’t phase the visitors.

Against the chances, Villa dug deep and found a way to win the tie at a ground that presented them with so many challenges to overcome, most of which were caused simply by the presence of Martinez.

The hurdles don’t stop for Emery’s squad, who are back in action on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League, with Bournemouth up next in another must-win game if Villa are to stay in control of their Champions League destiny.

Tonight at least, the team should celebrate reaching the Europa Conference League semi-final, putting the first-half performance aside, after a valiant effort to come away with a win in Lille.

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had a night to remember against LOSC Lille on Thursday night, as the Argentine was the talk of the show for more than just his brilliance in the spot shootout.

Aston Villa fans will be painting Lille claret and blue tonight as the Villans moved to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League with a penalty shootout win over LOSC Lille.

The Villans gave themselves a hard battle to overcome, going 2-0 down on the night to see the aggregate score switch to 3-2 before Matty Cash saved the day just three minutes from the 90.

In the 87th minute, the Poland international netted Villa’s lifeline to see the game go to extra time and finally, to penalties, where all hope rested on Emi Martinez.

It was an interesting penalty shootout to watch unfold, as the Argentine somehow managed to act as cold as ice when between the posts, but relished in taunting the home crowd to searing temperature when watching on.

The peak of confusion from the shootout was when the Villa keeper got a yellow card for his behaviour towards the crowd, leaving many puzzled as he had already been booked during the opening 90 minutes.

Why Emi Martinez wasn’t sent off for Aston Villa against Lille in the penalty shootout
Martinez was booked in the 39th minute of play for timewasting and was then booked again during the shootout for taunting the crowd after being warned by referee Ivan Kružliak.

There was a moment of confusion as the World Cup winner was not dismissed for a second booking however, ESPN journalist Dale Johnson cleared up why the goalkeeper was not made to walk.

So that’s Emiliano Martinez’s second yellow card, but only counts as one. #LILAVL

Yellow cards reset at the start of the penalty shootout.

So that's Emiliano Martinez's second yellow card, but only counts as one. #LILAVL

— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) April 18, 2024

A rule that was introduced in the 2020/21 season meant that yellow cards reset at the start of the penalty shootout, something that was not revised by many before Martinez came along against Lille.

It was fortunate for the Argentina international, who was able to then stay on the pitch and save the match-winning penalty, denying two of Lille’s players from the spot in the shootout.

Emi Martinez was lucky not to be left red-faced against Lille

After being booed and having objects thrown at him for over 120 minutes, Martinez is probably one of the happiest men in France right now, having left many fans furious with his behaviour.

As he did in the World Cup final, the Villa hero put his skillset first when it counted, giving him the room to continue to let his personality run wild on the pitch as when it came down to the important part, he was there to deliver.

What would Aston Villa do without Emi Martinez? It was a question that many thought would need to be answered after he was given a second yellow in the penalty shootout.