How Emiliano Martinez Became the Hero in Aston Villa's Europa League Victory - Rule Change Saves the Day!

Aston Villa’s Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez received his second yellow card during the penalty shootout against Lille. But he was allowed to stay in goal, and later turned out to be a hero by stopping André’s decisive penalty after both teams had previously missed a penalty. In the Play Sports studio, analyst Hein Vanhaezebrouck explained why the turbulent rain was allowed to continue.

Martinez received his first yellow after 39 minutes for time wasting and faced a second yellow card in the penalty shootout against Lille in the quarter-finals of the Europa League (2-2 after 120 minutes). However, due to a rule change in 2021, the yellow cards before the start of the penalty shootout will be erased and everyone will start from scratch. This is how the Argentine goalkeeper escaped exclusion.

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The French had bad memories of Martinez and penalties. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he stopped eleven meters from Kingsley Coman and Aurélien Tchouaméni during a penalty shootout in the final, allowing Argentina to win 4-2 and become world champions.

Martinez was whistled in Lille and did not fail to silence the French crowd after Aston Villa’s qualification.