Lille 2 Aston Villa 1 (3-3 agg, 3-4 on penalties): Emery’s side reach semi-finals despite late red card controversy
ASTON VILLA took a bit of mauling from a club nicknamed The Mastiffs!
But Unai Emery’s boys showed true British bulldog spirit to battle back when they seemed dead and buried.
And it was Emi Martinez who turned out to be the dog’s b***ocks with two penalty saves to deny Nabil Bentaleb and Benjamin Andre.
That was enough to send Villa through to their first major European semi-final for 42 years and how the Argentine goalie lapped it up.
As Villa’s joyous players went to their travelling army of fans Martinez waved his No.1 short at Lille fans to remind them why he is the world’s top-rated goalie.
For the French it was a re-run of his World Cup heroics from Qatar 2022 when Martinez used every dirty trick in the book to unnerve the French.
He was at it again last night, chucking the ball away before diving to his left to save Bentaleb’s opening spot kick for Lille.
Then bizarrely Martinez was shown a SECOND yellow card for goading the Lille fans packed behind his goal.
But he was able to remain on the pitch as cards are reset at the start of any shoot-out.
And after Leon Bailey had his penalty saved, it was Martinez who came to the rescue to save Lille’s fifth penalty from Andre to prove he is the top dog!
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Lille thought they had this tie in the bag after Yusuf Yazici and Benjamin Andre struck in each half to leave Villa reeling.
But with three minutes remaining Lille keeper Lucas Chevalier made a hash of dealing with Lucas Digne’s cross.
And though sub Jhon Duran’s first attempt was blocked the ball landed at Matty Cash’s feet and the Polish Cafu rifled home with the help of a deflection.
As the tie spilled into extra-time Villa thought they had won it when Chevalier palmed out Bailey’s shot and Douglas Luiz headed towards the empty net.
But somehow Chevalier recovered to claw the ball off the line.
Villa have still never won a competitive match in France in four attempts but they will not care after coming out on top here.
Emery has now won his last EIGHT quarter-final ties in Europe, going on to lift the trophy on four occasions.
However Lille boasted the best home record in France and have only lost once in their impressive Stade Pierre Mauroy Stadium this season, against Reims back in September.
As promised, the Ultras packed behind Villa’s goal in the first half gave Martinez a verbal battering as they booed and jeered his every touch.
And they almost raised the roof when the Villa No.1 was booked six minutes before the break for taking too long over a goal-kick.
Revenge came swiftly for the baying home crowd as Lille swept into the lead after 16 minutes.
Leny Yoro spread Villa’s defence with a stunning crossfield pass to Gabriel Gudmundsson wide on the left.
The Swede cleverly cut the ball back beyond Villa’s defensive line and Yusuf Yazici drilled a low left-footer past Martinez from the edge of the box.
It was a sensational finish from the Turkish international and it rocked Villa who were rarely at the races.
The visitors almost fell further behind when Martinez came to the rescue, taking one in the face as he crucially blocked Benjamin Andre’s point blank header.
Martinez continued after treatment but Nicolo Zaniolo had to be replaced by Morgan Rogers after damaging his hip following a collision with Andre.
With tempers fraying, rival bosses Unai Emery and Paulo Fonseca were both booked for bickering at each other.
Villa hadn’t managed a single shot during a troubled first half but that changed just before the hour when Matty Cash rifled a shot into the side net.
But it was nowhere near enough and Villa were left with a mountain to climb when Lille doubled their lead to seize control of the tie after 67 minutes.
Haraldsson whipped in a corner and Lille skipper Andre rose in front of Cash to flick home a header off the far post.
Emery immediately sent on Leon Bailey for the ineffective Diaby.
But it took Cash’s late strike to finally throw Villa a lifeline.