World Cup winner Emiliano Martínez produced more shootout heroics against French opposition, saving twice to help Aston Villa beat Lille 4-3 on penalties to reach the Europa Conference League semifinals in France on Thursday.
Martínez denied Nabil Bentaleb and, with the final kick, Benjamin André, to give Villa victory after the quarterfinal tie had finished 3-3 on aggregate following extra time. The Villa goalkeeper. who was booked during regulation time for time wasting, was also shown a second yellow card in the shootout for his disruptive antics but was allowed to continue as cautions do not carry over into penalties.
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Martínez had been booed throughout the contest by Lille fans, as a result of his actions that made him the center of attention in the 2022 World Cup final shootout.
The 31-year-old saved one France penalty and also earned a yellow card for his attempts to distract the opposition takers as Argentina lifted the trophy for the third time in Qatar, earning himself hero status in Argentina and the role of villain in France.
After a 2-1 win in the first leg of the quarterfinal last week, Lille looked to be heading for the last four when goals from Yusuf Yazici and André in either half put them 3-2 up on aggregate.
But Matty Cash pulled Villa level over the tie with three minutes of regulation time remaining. Cash, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins and Douglas Luiz then all scored in the shootout to, along with Martínez’s saves, take Villa to their first European semifinal since 1982.