Explained: Why Emiliano Martinez was NOT sent off during Aston Villa's penalty shootout against Lille... despite being shown a second yellow card before making save to send Unai Emery's men through

Martinez broke French hearts once again as he made two saves during Aston Villa's penalty shootout against Lille. The Argentine saved Lille's first penalty taken by Nabil Bentaleb and immediately turned to the fans in a mocking fashion. Then, while stood off to the side watching Ollie Watkins prepare to take a spot-kick, he appeared to motion to fans, and his actions saw referee Ivan Kruzliak show him a yellow card, his second of the night after he was shown one in the first half for time wasting. Despite the second booking, Martinez was allowed to stay on as he saved another penalty to lead Unai Emery's side to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.

Martinez survived his second booking of the night thanks to a special and rather unheard-of rule provided in the rules book. As per the guidelines followed by UEFA, the players are given a clean slate during the penalty shootout in regards to their card count. As such, it counted as the Argentine's first yellow card.

This isn't the first time that Martinez has been in the limelight for his acumen at penalty shootout as he was also the hero for Argentina on two occasions in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He saved two penalties against the Netherlands and one against France in the final of the tournament to hand the World Cup to La Albiceleste. Surprisingly, it was his actions during the World Cup final that caused a rule change for the behaviour of goalkeepers during the penalty shootouts.

The 31-year-old goalkeeper has been a major part of Aston Villa's successes this season as they push for Champions League football next season. They sit in fourth place, just three points clear of Tottenham Hotspur. He will next be in action when Emery's side play Bournemouth on Sunday, April 21.