LOSC Lille 2-1 Aston Villa (3-4 on pens)

Aston Villa advanced to the Europa Conference League semi-finals following a dramatic penalty shootout win against LOSC Lille at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Leading 2-1 from the first leg, the visitors found themselves behind on aggregate when Benjamin André’s second-half header added to Yusuf Yazici’s first-half opener to make it 2-0 on the night.

Matty Cash was at the centre of Villa’s best offensive openings and he rescued his team with three minutes left of normal time, levelling the tie when he rattled a shot past Lucas Chevalier to send the game to extra-time.

Lille’s goalkeeper produced a stunning save from Douglas Luiz in extra-time as the additional 30 minutes passed without a goal.

In the shoot-out, Villa netted four of their five penalties, while Emi Martínez saved from Nabil Bentaleb and the final kick from André to send his side through to the last four.

Villa will face the winner of Olympiacos or Fenerbahçe in the last four, and the club can now look forward to a first major European semi-final since 1982.

Unai Emery made two changes to his team for the trip to the north of France, bringing Cash and Luiz into the starting XI as he looked to build on a 2-1 lead from the first leg.

With no Ligue 1 fixture on the weekend, the home side had extra time to prepare for the game and they looked to make life uncomfortable for Villa early on.

Martínez survived a hairy moment when he dropped a cross before recovering to parry the ball clear, while Jonathan David sent the first shot of the match sailing over the crossbar.

But Lille did level the aggregate score soon after when Yazici struck. The winger met Gabriel Gudmundsson’s low cross and placed a first-time shot into the bottom corner.

Roared on by their jubilant fans, Paulo Fonseca’s team pushed forward in search of a second and only a superb save from Martínez denied them, with the goalkeeper keeping out André’s close-range header.

Villa struggled to make an impact on the game as an offensive force until the final minute of first-half stoppage time when Luiz sliced a half-volley over the crossbar.  

Hákon Haraldsson sent a drive narrowly wide at the beginning of the second half before the visitors started to impose themselves.

Villa’s best move of the match saw the ball worked into John McGinn in the box and following a smart backheel into the path of Cash, the full-back smashed an effort into the side-netting.

The complexion of the tie changed dramatically in the 67^th minute as Lille took the lead for the first time across the two legs.

An inswinging corner from Haraldsson was met at the near post by André, whose glanced effort clipped the crossbar and post before nestling in the net.  

Leon Bailey and Jhon Durán were sent on in response to the goal, but it was Cash who called Chevalier into action for the first time with a rasping long-range drive.

Villa's full-back was at the centre of events and he sent the travelling fans berserk when he rescued his side with three minutes left, sending a shot into the net from the edge of the box after Chevalier had dropped the ball following a collision with a defender. 

In the first half of extra-time, Chevalier made amends for his earlier mishap with a stunning one-handed save from Luiz’s diving header when the Brazilian seemed destined to score with most of the goal at his mercy.

The second period of 15 minutes passed without major incident until Durán saw a first-time shot saved in the 120th minute, with the save sending the game to spot kicks.

Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins, Cash and Luiz scored their penalties in the shoot-out, with Martínez denying Bentaleb and André to win the game for Villa.