Lille had a rare view of Aston Villa in the UEFA Europa League last eight second leg in the early hours of Friday morning (19)! Villa goalkeeper Damien Martinez was given a second yellow card in the 12-yard mutual shooting phase. However, he was not thrown out of the game. He went on to check and save the decisive 12-yarder and lead Villa to the top four of the European Association. The semi-finalists will play the Olympia Gaels for a place in the final.
Villa led 2-1 in the first leg, in a game that was better than the 2-3 that followed against a frantic attack that saw him knocked down by a long range shot from Yesses in the 15th minute, then hit by a corner from Banjeevananda in the 67th minute. Villa were all over the place in the closing stages. Three minutes before the end of the game he made a mistake in the Lille defense. Amidst the confusion, Madika contributed with a long range shot to bring the total to 3-3. in extra time the teams kept each other scoreless and had to exchange 12 yard shots to split the points.
Twelve yards had been the stage for Villa goalkeeper Martinez to help Argentina win the Coupe de France in the '22 World Cup final and offend French fans with the celebrations. The game also became a protagonist. In the first round, Bindana took a shot, then turned to provoke the French fans and showed the yellow card on the card; for a yellow card in the first half for delaying the game, and just when the world thought it was being expelled, the card continued to stay low.
As it turns out, according to the original International Football Association Board data (IFAB) Article 10, all yellow cards will be shot at each other before 12 yards during the legal time of the game (120 minutes). 'The Cleansing', therefore, Martinez's yellow cards in the first half will not count towards the 12-yard inter-shooting phase. The Argentine international was not ejected, and in the end made a more decisive fifth save on a Bantjevan Anda shot, making two brave saves to lead Villa to a 4-3 win.
Martinez was booed by the home fans. He won the 12-yarder and then transferred to the French fans to dance back. Lil Director Litan criticized after the game: "I don't want to waste time talking about Martinez, his attitude doesn't belong to a top athlete". Aymari is the general of the Villa leader's power support: "Before the game, you asked me if the French fans would point to point, and everyone saw it. Martinez has a lot of personality, but he has a lot of experience and knows how to control himself."
