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2 days ago
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Two goals from Donyell Malen led Aston Villa to the verge of automatic qualification for the last 16 of the Europa League against a backdrop of more crowd violence from Young Boys supporters.
The Netherlands striker is exemplifying Villa’s greater strength in depth but this 10th win in 12 games was marred by visiting fans ripping up seats, throwing missiles at stewards and Villa players and fighting with police.
Since the start of the 2023-24 season, no team has won more European games at home (13 from 15) than Unai Emery’s side. The Villa manager looks a good bet to win this competition for a fifth time.
The Swiss fans had helped dictate the initially positive atmosphere before Malen’s first goal. Their orchestrated clapping, drumming, pogoing and chanting had helped give the early kick-off what sense there was of a continental occasion although what followed each of the first-half goals was unacceptable by any standards.
In scenes reminiscent of other disturbances involving their supporters in the past two years, at Manchester City and Celtic, the Young Boys ultras reacted to Malen’s headed goal in the 27th minute by throwing plastic cups at the celebrating Villa players, the goalscorer getting a cut to the head.
Young Boys had been fined €28,250 by Uefa and ordered to pay City compensation for damaging seats and toilet blocks in their Champions League visit to the Etihad Stadium just over two years ago. They were also fined about €18,000 last season for the use of pyrotechnics in their volatile Champions League visit to Celtic in February.
But the trouble got worse after Malen doubled the lead three minutes before half-time. As the Dutch forward smiled on doing a knee-slide in the general direction of the travelling fans, they responded by ripping out seats to hurl alongside more plastic cups and liquid at the increased presence of police and stewards.
Fighting broke out with police even as Loris Benito, the Young Boys captain, went over to plead for peace from his team’s supporters. At least two trouble-makers were escorted away by police. There was a five-minute holdup before play could recommence and the half be completed.
It had at least been a very satisfactory half on the field for Villa as they pursued a seventh successive home win. Malen, who made such an immediate impact when coming on as a half-time substitute at Elland Road on Sunday to set up Morgan Rogers’ equaliser, was selected to play at centre-forward, one of seven changes to Emery’s starting lineup.
How he made the most of his opportunity, incisive and pacy for all of his hour on the pitch. Marvin Keller had had to tip over his brilliant 25-yard shot in the fourth minute and both Evann Guessand and Amadou Onana came close to opening the scoring before Malen headed in Youri Tielemans’ cross. Villa were so dominant that eight players were involved in the buildup.
The move for the second goal was somewhat more direct but no less aesthetically pleasing. Rogers played a superb through pass for Malen to take in his stride down the inside-left channel before he cut back inside Sandro Lauper and smashed in his sixth goal of the season.
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Perhaps Malen should not have celebrated in the visiting supporters’ direction but the crowd violence was as unforgivable as it was extreme.
There was a subdued mood over the next half hour as the Young Boys fans, almost to a man dressed in black, refrained from singing. Jadon Sancho had a shot saved, and Rogers was correctly given offside before he set Malen up to tap the ball home.
But as Villa rang the changes on the hour mark, offering four of their main players extra time to rest up before the derby with Wolves here on Sunday, the visiting fans sprang back into voice. “We forgot that you were here,” came the home supporters’ riposte.
When Young Boys did first get the ball in the Villa net, Chris Bedia sidefooting in Alan Virginius’s cross, there was a long VAR delay before the goal was disallowed for an offside in the buildup. The assistant referee on that side had shuffled up his line towards halfway and away from the Young Boys supporters by the time the decision was given.
In stoppage time, however, Joël Monteiro did crack home a consolation goal, after Gregory Wüthrich’s diagonal pass, and this time VAR could not deny Young Boys their moment of celebration.
After all the political backdrop to the last Europa League game here, when tickets were not on sale for Maccabi Tel Aviv’s fans in the expectation of Free Palestine protests, Villa will head to Basel next month hoping for a calm trip and the three points that should safeguard their passage into the last 16 of the competition.
