EXPLAINED: Aston Villa’s QF victory against LOSC Lille: Why Emi Martinez Did Not Get a Second Yellow Card

Emi Martinez is a unique athlete with a career trajectory unmatched in all of football history. After spending the majority of his time at Arsenal as just a bench warmer, he helped Argentina win their first World Cup since 1986 by teaming up with Lionel Messi.

Martinez has shown his value several times over the last two years, and when it comes to penalty shootouts, few keepers in international football are as effective as the Argentinean. He is widely renowned for his shithousery and antics, which are known to play mind games with the penalty taker, in addition to his excellent understanding of the game. In the UEFA Conference quarterfinal match between Aston Villa and LOSC Lille, a strange situation occurred in which the 2022 World Cup golden glove winner was given a second yellow card but was not sent off.

Martinez was given a second yellow card during the penalty shootouts, and IFAB rule 10.3 states that bookings do not carry over into penalties. “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,” This means Martinez was not sent off. During penalties, players, substitutes, replaced players, and team officials may get a red or yellow card.”

Given that the Argentinean was a major contributing factor in France’s defeat in the 2022 World Cup final, Emi Martinez is undoubtedly one of the most despised persons in French football. Martinez was jeered throughout the 120 minutes, adding insult to injury for his French opponents. This was made worse by his off-field actions and taunts after the World Cup. During Villa’s victory in the penalty shootout, he returned to torment French football fans by stopping Benjamin Andre and Nabin Bentaleb’s penalty to win the match.

“I don’t know what the referee wanted for me because we’re losing the game and I get booked after 30 minutes.” I asked the ball guy for a ball during the shoot-out because there wasn’t one on the penalty spot, and I was booked for it. Following his heroics on the spot kick, Emi Martinez told TNT Sports, “I just don’t understand the rules.”

Aston Villa’s current state of triumph is unparalleled, as they advanced to their first European semifinal since 1982 after defeating Arsenal 2-0 on the road over the weekend. To attempt to secure a position in the championship game, they will take on the Olympiacos in the Conference League semifinals.