A curious incident happened in the Conference League quarterfinal between Lille and Aston Villa.
The game went to penalties and during the shoot-out Emiliano Martinez was shown a yellow card, which happened to be his second in the game. In his typical fashion, Villa's goalkeeper started to provoke the crowd and quickly got booked.
And yet the Argentine kept on playing. How can it be?
The explanation is simple: yellow cards do not carry over into penalty shoot-outs. After 120 minutes, a game of football is deemed over and a penalty shoot-out is merely a tie-breaker.
So while it was technically Martinez's second booking in the game, it was his first in the shoot-out and he was allowed to carry on. Martinez would've only been sent off if he had received another yellow card: his third in the clash and second in the shoot-out.
Immediately after the referee brandished the booking, Villa's midfielder Douglas Luiz made a beeline for the referee, perhaps fearing his teammates would be sent off or maybe to remind the referee of the rules. The ref, however, knew the rules.
What's worse for Lille, Martinez's dark arts worked. Villa's goalie parried two strikes and dragged his team into the Conference League semi-final on penalties.
Oh, and to top it off, Martinez did a celebratory dance right in front of a stand packed with Lille fans.
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