2024-04-19 03:01:00
The Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez saved two penalties in the decisive round and gave Aston Villa qualification to the semifinals of the Conference League, with a result of 4 to 3 against Lille after losing 2 to 1 in the 120 regulation minutes in France.
Martínez saved the first penalty from the Algerian Nabil Bentaleb, at the opening of the round of executions, and the one who gave the pass to the Birmingham club was saved by the Frenchman Benjamin André.
During the definitions, the goalkeeper was warned for his movements in the goal, already famous for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Aston Villa raised an adverse result in the 120th minute, as they were losing 2-0 with goals from the Turkish Yusuf Yazici and André himself, but in the 87th minute, the Polish defender Matthew Cash scored the discount that equalized the series. Villa won the same result in England.
In addition to the adverse result, “Dibu” Martínez went through a hostile climate at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, since the French fans insulted him and whistled every time he touched the ball, even in the warm-up he received all the fury of the local fans, who They called him “enemy number one.”
“Public enemy number 1. You can expect a hostile reception from the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. The French will have a real opportunity to express some of their previous anger. His performance alone would have made him a despised figure in France, but “It was his reaction during the celebrations that cemented his vilified reputation and quickly earned him the nickname of the most hated Argentine in France,” were the words of a French media in the preview.
In other results of the day, Fiorentina, with a goal from Nicolás González, beat Viktoria Pilsen 2-0 and will also be in the semifinals.