Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is booked after a FURIOUS exchange with Lille boss Paulo Fonseca in the Europa Conference League clash.
- Unai Emery received a yellow card during the first half of Aston Villa’s match on Thursday evening.
- The yellow card came after a furious exchange with Lille boss Paulo Fonseca.
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Aston Villa manager Unai Emery and Lille boss Paulo Fonseca have both been booked after a furious touchline row during their Europa Conference League clash on Thursday night.
The two argued at the end of the first half, just seconds after Lille midfielder Benjamin Andre received a yellow card.
It was the fourth caution of the half, with Nicolo Zaniolo, Emiliano Martinez and Nabil Bentaleb also booked, and Emery and Fonseca clearly had divergent views on the decision.
They had a heated exchange on the pitch before the referee rushed to the touchline to show them both a yellow card.
He blew his whistle to urge both men to control their behavior, but Fonseca responded by stretching out his arms and continuing to complain as he appeared baffled by the yellow card.
Unai Emery reacted furiously to a refereeing decision and was booked in the first half on Thursday.
His counterpart, Paulo Fonseca (photo), was also booked after a heated exchange with Emery.
Emery was also seething as he gestured that Fonseca was talking too much while muttering under his breath.
It was a difficult first half for the Premier League side after going into the quarter-final second leg with a 2-1 lead in last week’s match at Villa Park.
Lille equalized on aggregate through Yusuf Yazici inside 15 minutes and continued to force the issue for the remainder of the first half.
Villa failed to muster a single shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes, with Martinez also having to be vigilant to keep his side level in the tie.
Emery may also have been annoyed by his own team’s performance and took his frustration out on Fonseca as they clashed in their respective technical areas.
Fortunately, the half-time whistle blew moments later, giving him 15 minutes to compose himself before a huge second half for his team.
Things went from bad to worse for Villa after the break as Andre scored Lille’s second goal to put the French side ahead 3-2 on aggregate.
