A moment of brilliance from Emiliano Martinez helped Aston Villa reach a third successive European quarter-final as they saw off Lille in the Europa League.
The Argentina goalkeeper, whose long-term future at Villa remains in doubt, played a big part in John McGinn’s second-half opener 15 seconds after making an important save.
Leon Bailey’s late second goal completed a 2-0 win on the night, 3-0 on aggregate, setting up a quarter-final meeting with either Bologna or Roma, whose tie went to extra time.
Progress keeps Villa’s dream of a trophy alive and, after falling short in the Conference League and Champions League in the last two seasons, Europa League specialist Unai Emery must be smelling the scent of a fifth title.
As Emery was at pains to point out before the game, these are halcyon days for Villa. Their journey under the Spaniard has been full of highlights and three successive European quarter-finals are proof of that. Indeed, few would bet against him lifting the trophy in Istanbul in May.
Emery is also the fastest Villa manager to 100 wins and his achievement was recognised before kick-off with home fans holding up a Tifo display.
This match was nowhere near the top of the list of memorable displays under Emery, although the hosts did dominate. Lille caused Villa untold problems in the Conference League quarter-final two years ago, but they were on the back foot for most of the match.
Douglas Luiz could have set the hosts on their way earlier had his third-minute shot not been blocked, while Tammy Abraham forced a low save out of Berke Ozer with a snap-shot.
Villa should have gone ahead before the break, but Ozer pulled off a good save to keep out Amadou Onana’s header, with Nathan Ngoy getting his toe to the rebound first as Jadon Sancho was ready to pounce.
The hosts went ahead 10 minutes into the second half thanks to some brilliant distribution from Martinez, who got down to save Nabil Bentaleb’s fierce 20-yard free-kick and immediately released Sancho with a pinpoint kick from his hands. Sancho cut inside and fed McGinn – playing his first match back at Villa Park after an injury lay-off – who slotted into the bottom corner to kill the tie.
Martinez was the focus of the celebration and he provocatively gestured to the Lille fans, who were not shy in showing their dislike for the Argentinian.
He is less than popular in France following his exploits in the 2022 World Cup final and angered Lille’s supporters further during their 2024 Conference League meeting, which Villa won on penalties, thanks in part to some trademark gamesmanship.
Villa had chances to make the score much more handsome, but Ollie Watkins had an effort deflected just wide, while Sancho thundered an effort against a post late on.
They did make it 2-0 in the 85th minute when Bailey tapped into an empty net after being set up by Watkins, and their European dreams remain very much alive after a composed victory.
