Captain John McGinn spent Wednesday’s press conference largely insisting it was the job of he and his team-mates to get Villa Park “rocking again”.
McGinn asserted the stadium did not need pre-match fireworks to fire up the crowd, but for the players to produce them on the pitch.
Regardless, actual fireworks are a staple of every home match, whatever the opposition or time. On Thursday night, Villa had good reason to jazz things up, in fairness, with the club marking Unai Emery’s 100 wins as manager. Before kick-off, supporters held claret and blue cards aloft, paying tribute to him.
Emery and McGinn pointed and shouted for a fast tempo, only to have it last a couple of minutes. By half-time, Villa had averaged 60 per cent possession, but their best chance had come from a corner.
Early bellows gave way to low-level hums. As a sign of Villa Park’s placidity, one of the more notable cheers was for a paper aeroplane — made from the card celebrating Emery — successfully landing on the pitch.
Supporters grew anxious. Innocuously, Jadon Sancho ran the ball out of play early in the second half, under no pressure. Villa were retreating, and Lille’s wing-back system gave them an extra man to play out and stretched Villa’s narrow shape on the flanks.
In the 54th minute, Douglas Luiz’s sloppy trip gave Nabil Bentaleb a chance to test Emiliano Martinez.
Bentaleb’s strike curled over the wall but safely nestled into Martinez’s chest.
Perhaps it was a consequence of the six-second limit or because he had caught a glimpse of Sancho sprinting forward. Sancho had turned and put his head down as soon as the shot was saved. Martinez rose to his feet and moved to the edge of the box.
He ignored Victor Lindelof’s suggestion to throw the ball to right-back Lamare Bogarde; as it transpired, Martinez was the one to deliver Villa Park’s on-pitch fireworks.
It was just 15 seconds from Bentaleb’s strike to McGinn’s finishing touch. These were 15 seconds which ultimately defined the two-legged contest.
A subtle but intelligent part of Martinez’s delivery was that, even though he knew the pass had to be released quickly, he afforded himself a fleeting moment to steady himself, throwing the ball hip height and side on, striking with his laces.
The Argentina international avoided Oliver Giroud’s half-hearted attempts to block or, at the very least, disturb, with the technique of his kick — a side-winding action ensured the pass was high enough but not loopy, potentially slowing the counter-attack.
The flat trajectory pushed the pass in Sancho’s direction and was perfectly weighted. The strike with the laces provided spin from left to right, akin to getting top spin in cricket, whereby the bowler imparts forward rotation on the ball, causing it to dip faster.
Martinez’s pass kissed the turf and into the feet of the winger. Sancho, who is not necessarily associated with neck-breaking sprints forward, was purposeful, running onto the pass and taking his first touch directly forward with his laces.
Like Martinez, he steadied himself to assess his next decision. He slowed down and, even in the intensifying strength of noise, saw McGinn sprinting alongside him, having also made a lung-busting run from deep inside his own half.
Sancho cut inside Lille’s winger, Felix Correia, who had been caught in the desperate need to scramble back.
The Manchester United loanee squared for the onrushing McGinn…
And Villa’s captain did not have to alter his step pattern as he slid the ball into the bottom right corner.
“At half-time, he (Emery) said it’s one-v-one with Tammy and me,” Sancho told TNT Sports after. “He just said, ‘Just run in behind’. As soon as I saw Emi get the ball, I just kept on running, and I believed in him. I just saw the ball. As I chopped inside, I saw John McGinn, and I decided to play it to him.
“I saw John; he was in a much better position. I knew John was going to finish, so I was happy.”
McGinn wheeled off towards The Holte End but pointed immediately to Martinez. Morgan Rogers turned around and headed straight for Villa’s goalkeeper while others, including Sancho, met Martinez on the halfway line.
“He’s (Martinez) a madman,” McGinn smiled, talking to TNT Sports. “He’s a family man, but he’s like a big kid inside. I wanted to thank Jadon for the assist, I went looking for him but he was nearly at Witton Station.”
Martinez celebrated as if it were his goal, barging into Amadou Onana and hugging Sancho. Such euphoria meant no one really knew how to react, yet they were equally aware of how significant Martinez’s pass was; Villa’s attack, which had lately and often malfunctioned in transitional scenarios, had found the much-needed second goal of the tie at the perfect moment.
Villa Park sang Martinez’s name as he continued to roar. His celebrations were no doubt a consequence of his integral role in the goal, but were additionally fuelled by playing Lille, a team he shares an increasingly fraught history with.
Due to his extroverted celebrations after the World Cup final against France in 2022 and then, less than two years later, living up to his pantomime villain characterisation with two yellow cards in Lille before winning the penalty shootout in their Conference League quarter-final, Martinez typically relishes such hostility.
The fact that Martinez had to run past Lille’s away supporters on his way to the halfway line would have provided immense satisfaction.
“I remember last year against Brugge here, he did the pass to (Marcus) Rashford when we provoked the red card for Brugge,” Emery told reporters after. “He has this long pass when he’s playing focused, like today. He can help us a lot, not only saving us but playing with the ball in combination.”
Martinez’s pass and Sancho’s quickness of thought combined to create the telling passage of the tie. The goal gave Villa another layer of comfort and renewed confidence. The third goal on aggregate came, again, from a Martinez long ball, which, three passes later, ended with Leon Bailey tapping into an empty net.
Martinez raised both arms aloft towards the Holte End at full-time. Villa are through to the Europa League quarter-finals, where they will play Bologna. If this is to be Martinez’s final campaign in the Midlands, a man made and defined for the big moments will likely be a main character in Villa’s quest for a trophy under Emery.