Aston Villa’s penalty shoot-out hero Emi Martinez was not sent off at Lille in Thursday’s Europa Conference League quarter-final despite being booked twice.
Villa won the game on penalties after Lille beat them 2-1 in the second leg to bring the aggregate score to 3-3 at the end of extra-time.
Martinez, who had initially been cautioned in the 39th minute, looked set to receive his marching orders during the shoot-out when referee Ivan Kruzliak brandished a second yellow card for his gamesmanship.
However, the Villa goalkeeper was allowed to stay on the pitch, causing confusion around the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, before saving the decisive penalty.
The official was simply following the laws of the game, though, with IFAB stipulating that bookings are not carried through to penalties.
The rule states: “Yellow cards and warnings from the game are not carried forward into penalties but a player who was shown a red card during the game cannot take part.
“Players, substitutes, substituted players and team officials can get a red or yellow card during penalties.”
Asked about the incident, Martinez told TNT Sports: “I get booked after 30 minutes and we’re losing the game so I don’t know what the referee wanted for me.
“In the shootout, there was no ball on the penalty spot and I was asking for a ball from the ball boy… and then I get booked.
