Aston Villa secured a place in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League after defeating Lille 4-3 on penalties on a dramatic night at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.
The Ligue 1 side took advantage of a timid and poor Villa performance to take the lead in the tie with a goal either side of half-time, but Matty Cash’s late strike gave us hope and forced extra-time.
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While both sides had chances to win it, they ultimately couldn’t be split, and so it was determined by a penalty shootout with Emiliano Martinez emerging as the hero for Villa.
The World Cup winner saved two spot-kicks as Leon Bailey was the only Villa player to miss, and so our European journey continues this season after finding a way past an impressive Lille side.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Lille:
Emiliano Martinez, 10 – Couldn’t do much for the goals and flapped at a couple of deliveries into the box but recovered well. It was all about him in the penalty shootout though, as he produced two brilliant saves to play a decisive role once again to book our place in the last four of the competition.
Matty Cash, 8 – Back in the Villa XI after his hamstring injury, and what a shift he put in. Completed the 120 minutes, scored the all-important goal to keep us alive in the tie, and then buried his penalty in the shootout. Looked our biggest threat in open play too, and hopefully he can continue to improve off the back of this outing.
Ezri Konsa, 7.5 – Moved back into the centre-half role, and he was excellent throughout. Had too much responsibility in possession as Villa struggled to break Lille’s press and system, but was classy in his defensive work as he continuously broke up dangerous attacking play from the hosts.
Pau Torres, 7 – Did well alongside Konsa to limit Lille’s threat, although the entire backline will be disappointed with the goals that we conceded. Was crucial as usual with his composure on the ball to help us try and find some rhythm in our play with the midfield non-existent for the large periods.
Lucas Digne, 6 – Found it difficult limiting Lille’s attacking threat down that side, and got caught out for the first goal as he should have done better to close the shot down. Worked hard throughout though both defensively and trying to get forward and provide us with width.
Nicolo Zaniolo, N/A – Forced off with an injury after just 28 minutes, and so hopefully it’s nothing serious that will sideline him for the weekend.
John McGinn, 6 – The Villa skipper struggled in this one as he initially started on the right. Couldn’t impose himself on the game and set the tone for us as we struggled to get the ball into our midfield players, while he was sloppy at times when in possession. Replaced in the second half as Villa searched for a way back into the tie.
Douglas Luiz, 6 – Has to do more when teams make it difficult for our defence to find a pass into midfield. Lille shut him down for the most part as he couldn’t influence the game or give us control as we struggled throughout the encounter. Had very few touches as we never really got going, but his spot-kick was brilliant in the shootout.
Youri Tielemans, 6 – Similar story to Luiz as our midfield was non-existent for the opening hour at least, with the pairing unable to influence our play. Further evidence in my opinion that this duo doesn’t work in the heart of our midfield, particularly in games like this where we have to dig in and get a foothold against a quality side playing with an intense press. McGinn and Luiz or Tielemans has to be the way forward with no Boubacar Kamara.
Moussa Diaby, 5 – Looked more of a threat when he drifted out to the right wing, but didn’t do enough to impact the game. That said, he hardly had any decent service to work off as we struggled to build play and keep the ball to create pressure other than going long and trying to hit Lille on the break.
Ollie Watkins, 6 – Worked hard off the ball to give us movement up top and hold the ball up, but such was our struggle to create any real opportunities, he had a difficult night working off scraps. Kept his composure to slot home his penalty despite slipping.
Substitutes:
Morgan Rogers, 6 – Couldn’t have as big an impact as he has done in recent weeks as Villa continued to struggle to play with any real quality, but did show glimpses of his technical ability to escape pressure.
Leon Bailey, 6 – A bright spark off the bench as he clearly lifted us with his direct play down the right side. Hopefully his heavily strapped knee isn’t a concern heading into the weekend.
Jhon Duran, 6 – Almost slammed home a late winner but was denied by a good save. Did well to win headers and give us a focal point up top in the latter stages as we struggled when going long all night prior to his introduction.
