Being the English representative left in the Europe, Aston Villa entered the second leg of the Conference League tie against Lille, aiming to capitalise on their 2-1 lead from the initial encounter.
Fifteen minutes into the match, the hosts, Lille, already put pressure on the visitors as Yazici’s bottom corner finish pinned Emi Martinez between the posts, giving his side the lead.
Eager to put a woeful first half performance behind, Villa came close but this time Matty Cash sent his his shot to the side-net.
Lille skipper, Benjamin Andre doubled the lead as his header found the back of the net from an in swinging corner.
Desperate for a goal, Villa increased their intensity and it paid off when Lille goalkeeper, Lucas Chevalier fumbled the ball after a coming together, which fell to the path of Matty Cash, who rifled into top corner, to put his side level on aggregate.
With momentum behind Villa, Lucas Chevalier was called into action, this time showing his reflexes with a double save, keeping out an initial attempt from Leon Bailey and a follow up from Douglas Luiz.
Penalties settled the match, with World Cup winner Emi Martinez replicating the heroics that earned him the Golden Glove. He thwarted penalty kicks from skipper Benjamin Andre and Bentaleb, guiding his side to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Mbey Williams