Aston Villa maintained their strong Europa League campaign with a 2-1 victory over Young Boys at Villa Park on Thursday night, despite the match being overshadowed by unsavory crowd incidents. Dutch forward Donyell Malen proved the difference, scoring both goals for Unai Emery’s side in the first half. His opener came from a precise header off a Youri Tielemans cross in the 19th minute, but celebrations were cut short when he was struck on the head by a plastic cup thrown from the away section, leaving a small cut. Undeterred, Malen doubled the lead just before halftime after being set up by Morgan Rogers.

The second goal sparked further trouble as Young Boys supporters clashed with police and stewards. Visiting captain Loris Benito was forced to intervene, appealing directly to the travelling fans to calm down as the referee briefly halted play. Joel Monteiro pulled one back with a powerful finish in the 90th minute, but Villa held firm for a fourth win in five league-phase matches, leaving them third in the standings behind Lyon and Midtjylland on goal difference alone.

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest marked their return to major European football with a commanding 3-0 win over Malmö at the City Ground—a repeat of the 1979 European Cup final. Ryan Yates curled home a superb opener, Arnaud Kalimuendo scored his first goal for the club from close range, and Nikola Milenkovic completed the scoring on the hour. The result lifted Forest to 16th place with eight points and delighted a raucous home crowd cherishing rare European nights.

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In other fixtures, Lyon demolished Maccabi Tel Aviv 6-0 in Serbia with captain Corentin Tolisso netting a hat-trick, while Roma ended Midtjylland’s perfect record with a 2-1 victory. Celtic staged a comeback to defeat Feyenoord 3-1 and move into the playoff positions, and Rangers claimed their first point of the campaign in a fiery 1-1 draw against Braga that saw both sides reduced to ten men.

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