‘Pathetic’ – Emiliano Martinez banned after yellow card confusion to leave Aston Villa legend fuming

Emiliano Martinez will still be suspended for Aston Villa’s next Europa Conference League match despite escaping a red card on Thursday.

And Gabby Agbonlahor, the club’s all-time top scorer, is furious.

The Argentine took center stage on Thursday as Unai Emery’s men booked their place in the Europa Conference League semi-finals with victory over the Ligue 1 side.

He was booked twice but not sent off due to a largely unknown rule, but that doesn’t save him from a suspension, having received three yellow cards over the two matches.

A UEFA spokesperson confirmed the suspension for the semi-final first leg against Olympiacos on May 2.

Aston Villa icon Agbonlahor tweeted: “The greatest goalkeeper in the world is suspended for the first leg of the semi-final! They will do everything they can to stop us from winning another European trophy! Pathetic! Some of these referees are idiots.”

With the score 3-3 on aggregate after extra time, Martinez was tasked with being Villa’s spot-kick hero, similar to his heroics in the World Cup final against France in 2022.

His behavior during and after Argentina’s historic triumph in Qatar was not well received in France and Lille fans made their feelings known throughout Thursday’s match.

Martinez received a booking in the 39th minute of the match but continued to play the pantomime villain at the hostile Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

The 31-year-old’s antics continued until the penalty shootout and danced in front of Lille Ultras after stopping Nabil Bentaleb’s penalty.

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He persisted in his sense of the game as Villa prepared to take their next penalty and was subsequently brandished with another yellow card.

Much to everyone’s surprise, IFAB Rule 10.3 states that yellow cards are not applied in penalty shootouts.

The rule states: “Yellow cards and match warnings do not carry over to penalties, but a player who received a red card during the match cannot participate in it.

“Players, substitutes, substituted players and team officials may receive a red or yellow card during penalties.”

However, if the Argentine had been sent off during the penalty shootout, a player who had finished the match would have to step in as goalkeeper.

Rangers legend Ally McCoist has admitted avoiding a red card but suspension was not mind-blowing.

He told talkSPORT: “It’s ridiculous! »

Villa will, at least, be able to call on Martinez if the semi-final were to go to penalties after normal time in the return match.

McCoist added: “It doesn’t matter who you are or what team you’re on, if you go to a penalty shootout and you look around and you see him between the posts, you’re delighted.

“You can argue about some of his antics, they maybe bore you a bit but at the same time you see him in the sticks and you think ‘we’ve got a chance here’.