DONYELL MALEN STRUCK a first-half brace as Aston Villa secured a Europa League victory over Young Boys amid trouble from the away support at Villa Park.
A positive night for Villa – which gave them a seventh straight home win – was marred by trouble from travelling fans, who have a history of causing problems.
Malen took his tally for the season to six to give Villa a deserved two-goal lead at the break, but that resulted in home players being pelted by objects thrown by visiting supporters.
Donyell Malen of Aston Villa scores their second goal. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The goalscorer suffered a cut to the head after he was caught by a flying plastic cup.
Orchestrated clapping and singing turned ugly when Young Boys fell behind and the game was stopped for five minutes as fans clashed with police in the Doug Ellis Stand and even needed captain Loris Benito to calm them down.
Dozens of police officers were deployed in riot gear in front of the away end and no further trouble occurred after the interval.
Young Boys supporters were fined €28,250 for similar issues at Manchester City a couple of years ago and around €18,000 for the use of pyrotechnics at Celtic in February.
The action on the pitch played second fiddle for a while and Joel Monteiro’s late consolation did not stop Villa from earning a fourth win from five in the competition as their superb form continued.
Villa were keen to assert their authority from the first whistle and Malen’s effort from range inside four minutes looked destined for the back of the net, only for goalkeeper Marvin Keller to tip the ball over the crossbar.
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The home side made the pressure count and grabbed the opening goal in the 27th minute.
Youri Tielemans collected the ball on the edge of the area and had time and space to lift it onto the head of Malen who guided the ball beyond Keller.
In the aftermath of the goal, Malen and his team-mates went to celebrate in front of the away support and objects were thrown towards them. Malen came away from it sporting a cut to the head.
The hosts were going through the gears and had their second three minutes before the break. Morgan Rogers played a neat pass to Malen who cut inside and dispatched expertly into the back of the net.
Like his first celebration, Malen went towards the away fans and missiles were again thrown which caused clashes with police and the referee to stop the game for five minutes.
Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa and Loris Benito of Young Boys during the game. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
On the pitch, Villa continued to boss proceedings. They thought they had a third when a long ball over the top was played to Rogers and he squared to Malen who thought he had a hat-trick, but the assistant flagged for offside to cut celebrations short.
Young Boys looked to have halved the deficit when Alan Virginius played the ball across for Chris Bedia to convert, but, after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was disallowed for offside in the build-up.
The visitors did get their goal in the 90th minute when Monteiro latched onto a pass from Gregory Wuthrich and slammed into the back of the net, but Villa held on despite late pressure.
*****
Nottingham Forest 3-0 Malmo
Nottingham Forest paid tribute to their 1979 European Cup-winning heroes in style with a 3-0 win over Malmo in the Europa League.
Brian Clough’s Forest conquered Europe 46 years ago when Trevor Francis’ goal against the Swedish side gave them a 1-0 success in Munich.
Nostalgia was in full supply ahead of kick-off, with most of the living players from that famous night paraded on the City Ground pitch as well as a two-minute film projected onto the Brian Clough Stand.
And although the stakes were much lower this time in a league phase match, Forest were again victorious thanks to goals from Ryan Yates, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Nikola Milenkovic.
Victory for Forest continued the upward trend under boss Sean Dyche, who has now delivered three wins in a row amid a five-match unbeaten run in all competitions, with the unsettling spell at the start of the season seemingly behind them.
The breakthrough came in the 28th minute and it was perhaps fitting that a homegrown Forest player was the scorer.
Milenkovic’s cross deflected invitingly into the path of Yates and the skipper coolly slotted home from 12 yards.
The second did come on the stroke of half-time as Kalimuendo broke his Forest duck.
The Frenchman was on hand to tap home his first goal for the club after Ellborg had spectacularly clawed away Yates’ header from a James McAtee cross.
Forest made it 3-0 just before the hour when Milenkovic converted from close range after Yates’ volley fell into his path, with the goal surviving a lengthy VAR check for offside.
Hudson-Odoi then clipped the crossbar as Forest chased more goals, but three was enough as they took the foot off the pedal with Sunday’s visit of Brighton in mind.
*****
Elsewhere tonight, Crystal Palace came unstuck in Strasbourg as they slipped to a 2-1 Conference League defeat.
Tyrick Mitchell’s first-half goal had put the Eagles on course for a third win from four European matches.
But they were pegged back by Chelsea-bound striker Emanuel Emegha and then sent packing by a first senior goal from teenager Samir El Mourabet.
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Malan scores twice in Aston Villa win, Nottingham Forest cruise past Malmo
LAST UPDATE | 27 Nov 2025
Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
DONYELL MALEN STRUCK a first-half brace as Aston Villa secured a Europa League victory over Young Boys amid trouble from the away support at Villa Park.
A positive night for Villa – which gave them a seventh straight home win – was marred by trouble from travelling fans, who have a history of causing problems.
Malen took his tally for the season to six to give Villa a deserved two-goal lead at the break, but that resulted in home players being pelted by objects thrown by visiting supporters.
The goalscorer suffered a cut to the head after he was caught by a flying plastic cup.
Orchestrated clapping and singing turned ugly when Young Boys fell behind and the game was stopped for five minutes as fans clashed with police in the Doug Ellis Stand and even needed captain Loris Benito to calm them down.
Dozens of police officers were deployed in riot gear in front of the away end and no further trouble occurred after the interval.
Young Boys supporters were fined €28,250 for similar issues at Manchester City a couple of years ago and around €18,000 for the use of pyrotechnics at Celtic in February.
The action on the pitch played second fiddle for a while and Joel Monteiro’s late consolation did not stop Villa from earning a fourth win from five in the competition as their superb form continued.
Villa were keen to assert their authority from the first whistle and Malen’s effort from range inside four minutes looked destined for the back of the net, only for goalkeeper Marvin Keller to tip the ball over the crossbar.
The home side made the pressure count and grabbed the opening goal in the 27th minute.
Youri Tielemans collected the ball on the edge of the area and had time and space to lift it onto the head of Malen who guided the ball beyond Keller.
In the aftermath of the goal, Malen and his team-mates went to celebrate in front of the away support and objects were thrown towards them. Malen came away from it sporting a cut to the head.
The hosts were going through the gears and had their second three minutes before the break. Morgan Rogers played a neat pass to Malen who cut inside and dispatched expertly into the back of the net.
Like his first celebration, Malen went towards the away fans and missiles were again thrown which caused clashes with police and the referee to stop the game for five minutes.
On the pitch, Villa continued to boss proceedings. They thought they had a third when a long ball over the top was played to Rogers and he squared to Malen who thought he had a hat-trick, but the assistant flagged for offside to cut celebrations short.
Young Boys looked to have halved the deficit when Alan Virginius played the ball across for Chris Bedia to convert, but, after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was disallowed for offside in the build-up.
The visitors did get their goal in the 90th minute when Monteiro latched onto a pass from Gregory Wuthrich and slammed into the back of the net, but Villa held on despite late pressure.
*****
Nottingham Forest 3-0 Malmo
Nottingham Forest paid tribute to their 1979 European Cup-winning heroes in style with a 3-0 win over Malmo in the Europa League.
Brian Clough’s Forest conquered Europe 46 years ago when Trevor Francis’ goal against the Swedish side gave them a 1-0 success in Munich.
Nostalgia was in full supply ahead of kick-off, with most of the living players from that famous night paraded on the City Ground pitch as well as a two-minute film projected onto the Brian Clough Stand.
And although the stakes were much lower this time in a league phase match, Forest were again victorious thanks to goals from Ryan Yates, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Nikola Milenkovic.
Victory for Forest continued the upward trend under boss Sean Dyche, who has now delivered three wins in a row amid a five-match unbeaten run in all competitions, with the unsettling spell at the start of the season seemingly behind them.
The breakthrough came in the 28th minute and it was perhaps fitting that a homegrown Forest player was the scorer.
Milenkovic’s cross deflected invitingly into the path of Yates and the skipper coolly slotted home from 12 yards.
The second did come on the stroke of half-time as Kalimuendo broke his Forest duck.
The Frenchman was on hand to tap home his first goal for the club after Ellborg had spectacularly clawed away Yates’ header from a James McAtee cross.
Forest made it 3-0 just before the hour when Milenkovic converted from close range after Yates’ volley fell into his path, with the goal surviving a lengthy VAR check for offside.
Hudson-Odoi then clipped the crossbar as Forest chased more goals, but three was enough as they took the foot off the pedal with Sunday’s visit of Brighton in mind.
*****
Elsewhere tonight, Crystal Palace came unstuck in Strasbourg as they slipped to a 2-1 Conference League defeat.
Tyrick Mitchell’s first-half goal had put the Eagles on course for a third win from four European matches.
But they were pegged back by Chelsea-bound striker Emanuel Emegha and then sent packing by a first senior goal from teenager Samir El Mourabet.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Aston Villa Europa League Soccer