An explanation behind Emi Martinez’s two yellow cards but no red vs Lille –and why he’s suspended for the semi-final first leg.

Emiliano Martinez avoided a red card despite receiving two yellows for Aston Villa against LOSC Lille on Thursday night - saved by an obscure footballing law - but he will miss the semi-final first leg through suspension.

The World Cup winner was the Villans’ hero at Stade Pierre-Mauroy as he saved two penalties in a penalty shootout after Lille’s 2-1 win brought the aggregate score to 3-3. Tensions were high throughout the second-leg tie - not helped by referee Ivan Kruzliak’s recalcitrant officiating - and Martinez, public enemy number one in France, couldn’t help but wind up the crowd.

Villa’s goalkeeper was on thin ice for most of the game as he was booked in the first half for repetitive time-wasting. He certainly tested his luck during regular time but particularly so during the shoot-out as he shushed the Lille fans after saving Nabil Bentaleb’s penalty.

Martinez’s winding up prompted Kruzliak to take action for a second time as the referee showed the Argentine another yellow. A sending-off, then? Surely? But no, Martinez was relieved by a rule even he didn’t know.

According to IFAB law 10 (determining the outcome of a match), “Warnings and cautions issued during the match are not carried forward into kicks from the penalty mark (KFPM)”. Therefore, as per the official rules, “a player who receives a yellow card during both the match and the KFPM is not sent off”.

Martinez doesn’t get away with his antics - as fair or unfair as they were - that easily, however, as his three yellows across the two legs of the quarter-final force a ban for the first leg of the next round.

UEFA laws state all double yellow card accumulations expire on completion of the quarter-finals but as Martinez picked up three cautions in the quarters, he’s now banned.

Confusing, yes, but Unai Emery will have to do without his first-choice shot-stopper.