Malen’s double ignites an upstir in the Young Boys away end

Aston Villa returned to European action on Thursday evening as they defeated Young Boys 2-1 in the UEFA Europa League at Villa Park.

Donyell Malen struck twice to secure the victory for the Villans, which caused an outburst at the away end, leading to clashes between the fans and police.

Malen could have given the host an early lead four minutes into the game when the Dutchman’s long-range effort was tipped over the bar by the Young Boys goalkeeper Keller.

The 26-year-old had the chance again to break the deadlock minutes later, but Morgan Rogers’ low cross narrowly evaded the forward.

Keller was called into action again as he made a comfortable save from a Youri Tielemans 25-yard free kick.

Villa continued looking for the breakthrough as Rogers’ cross was headed back across goal, but Malen miscued his effort.

The Dutchman finally broke the deadlock in the 27th minute, heading home Tielemans’ delightful cross into the bottom corner.

Malen celebrated the opener in front of the away end as one of the dozens of beer cups thrown by the angry Young Boys fans at the Villans struck the forward’s head.

Malen doubled the host’s advantage just before the break when Rogers surged from deep, weaving past his markers before finding the Dutchman who shifted inside and finished beyond Keller.

The 26-year-old ran towards the away end to celebrate again, much to the discontent of the Young Boys fans, who clashed with the West Midlands police, throwing punches and plastic chairs at the police, with play stopping for five minutes.

Jadon Sancho was denied by a last-ditch block in stoppage time as Villa went onto the break with a two-goal cushion.

The host started the second half strong as Sancho forced Keller into a smart save. Malen saw his hat-trick goal ruled out for offside following a brilliant Villa move.

The visitor thought they had halved the deficit with 20 minutes to go after Virginius and Bedia teed up for a tap-in, but the former had strayed offside, and the goal was ruled out.

The Swiss outfit finally found a foothold with time almost up when a long ball over the top found substitute Monteiro, who cushioned the ball down with his chest before volleying over Martinez.

Villa recorded their seventh home win in a row in all competitions, and they move to 12 points from five games in the Europa League.