EMILIANO MARTINEZ received a second yellow card in Aston Villa’s gripping penalty shootout against Lille – but still escaped an early bath and then ended up as the hero.
The World Cup-winning goalkeeper was booked in the first-half of the tense Conference League quarter-final showdown for time-wasting.
And he was shown another early in the shootout for goading fans after saving Lille’s first penalty courtesy of ex-Tottenham star Nabil Bentaleb.
Martinez turned to the French fans and hit them with a “shush”.
The referee brandished the red, leaving fans to wonder what happened next with no goalkeeper for the spot-kick showdown.
But the match official quickly withdrew the sending off, leaving fans baffled.
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But that didn’t stop fans from being baffled, with one taking to X to say: “I need an explanation, Martinez has just been sent off for a second bookable offence in a penalty shootout then waved away and continues.
Another wrote: “Martinez got sent off then not sent off is that what happened?”
A third added: “He already got a yellow but is allowed to keep on playing??”
It turns out there’s a very good reason Martinez did not head down the tunnel.
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That’s because of a little-known rule that states yellow cards are WIPED OUT between the end of extra-time and penalties.
So Martinez survived, and would go on to save the crucial penalty with Villa leading 4-3.
Benjamin Andre had to score, but the Argentine parried it away.
The ex-Arsenal man quickly turned to face the Lille fans to continue what fans called his “s***housery”.
But the ref again intervened, checking Martinez was glued to his line when Andre struck the ball.
After a quick VAR check, Martinez was deemed to have been a good boy on this occasion and Villa marched on to the semi-finals in dramatic manner.
Leading 2-1 from the first leg at Villa Park, the Premier League side were stunned as Lille went 1-0 up to level the tie after just 15 minutes.
And with just 15 minutes to play, they went 2-0 up to move to the brink of a Conference League semi-final spot.
But Matty Cash scored with less than five minutes to play to take the game to extra-time and, ultimately, penalties.
After the win, Martinez said: “It’s been hell of a ride all my career. I’m a believer and I’m a hard worker and it was my destiny to win here again.
“I’ve got a reputation for time wasting but the other goalkeeper was doing the same but I got booked. There was no ball on the penalty spot so I was asking the ball boy for one. I don’t understand the rules.
“I always say all in my career, I owe my team-mates in those moments, even when we were watching Real Madrid last night the manager was saying we might go to penalties and in those moments I own my box.
“This group of players and the managers are special, the owners get involved as well, they are always behind us. It feels like we are going to do something special.
“I don’t know if it’s Champions League or if it’s Conference League but we try to do everything we can to push the football club.”
On his goalkeeper’s bizarre heroics, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said: “Emi Martinez is very important for us, he has his personality and his personality in the dressing room is very important.
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“He’s a leader every day with the players. He’s really brilliant, his mentality is brilliant, he has his personality when he plays as well.
“In the game he was fantastic and in the penalty shootout he was fantastic to save two and I’m very proud of him and very proud of my players.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
