Aston Villa moved to the brink of automatic qualification for the Europa League last-16 with a 3-1 victory over Young Boys, but the match was marred by ugly scenes of crowd trouble from the visiting supporters. Donyell Malen scored twice and was struck by a missile thrown from the stands, leaving him with a cut to the head.
The violence escalated after Malen's second goal just before half-time, with Young Boys fans ripping out seats and hurling them at police and stewards. Play was halted for five minutes as officers escorted at least three trouble-makers from the ground. Villa manager Unai Emery played down the incident, saying: 'We need respect for both sides. It is not necessary to have what we had today.'
Young Boys coach Gerardo Seoane apologised for the behaviour but suggested Villa players celebrating near the away section may have provoked the reaction. 'Our fans maybe took this like a provocation, but I think this is part of football,' he said. 'Our fans should not react so heavily.' He also criticised the police for what he felt was an overreaction.
On the pitch, Villa extended their impressive home European record under Emery. Malen headed in Youri Tielemans' cross for the opener before cutting inside to smash home his sixth goal of the season. Joël Monteiro pulled one back for the Swiss side, but Villa held on for a seventh successive home win.
Young Boys have a history of supporter trouble, having been fined for incidents at Manchester City and Celtic last season. Villa next travel to Basel in search of the point that would guarantee a top-eight finish and avoid the knockout play-offs.
