Aston Villa hero caused chaos in his side’s penalty shootout win in Lille.
Emiliano Martinez’s contentious penalty shootout antics in Lille yesterday night (Thursday) may cause him to miss the first leg of Aston Villa’s Europa Conference League semifinal match against Olympiacos. The Argentine stopper ended the evening as the Villa hero, not only pulling off a number of stops over the course of the 120 minutes as the home team defeated the Premier League team 2-1 to force penalties, but also making two saves from the spot to advance his team.
That came about only after there was disagreement about whether the 26-year-old ought to have been dismissed prior to the end of the gunfight. Martinez was first cautioned for gamesmanship during the spot-kicks after saving Nabil Bentaleb’s first penalty, having already received a booking in the 39th minute.
He provoked Lille supporters by putting his finger to his mouth in celebration of that moment. He continued to play in goal despite receiving his second yellow card, and he finally put an end to the game when he stopped Benjamin Andre once again before sprinting the entire length of the field to celebrate in front of the opposing supporters.
Viewers began to wonder why the 2022 World Cup champion, who had received two yellow cards, had not been sent off. However, he was able to avoid punishment because of a little-known rule. Players’ yellow cards are wiped at the sound of the final whistle because penalty shootouts are handled differently from regular games in terms of disciplinary processes.
“Yellow cards and warnings from the game are not carried over into penalties, but a player who was shown a red card during the game cannot participate,” according to IFAB rule 10.3. During penalties, players, substitutes, players who have been substituted, and team officials may receive a red or yellow card.”
Martinez officially received two competitive yellow cards last night, in addition to the caution he was given during the first leg in Birmingham, as Villa has subsequently verified. Players who incur three bookings in the Europa Conference League are suspended for one game, thus he will miss the May 2 home match against the Greek team.
Subsequently, the athlete contended that his penalty in the shootout was due to a misunderstanding of the regulations rather than intentionally inciting the Lille audience. “I don’t know what the referee wanted for me because we’re losing the game and I get booked after 30 minutes,” he remarked.
“I asked the ball guy for a ball during the shoot-out because there was no ball on the penalty spot, and I got booked for it. I simply don’t know what the regulations are.”
At Villa Park, backup keeper Robin Olsen is scheduled to fill in for Martinez. In the 2023–24 season, the Swedish international has only made six appearances for the team, three of which have been in the Conference League’s early rounds.
