European Super Football

Aston Villa 2 - 1 Young Boys Donyell Malen struck twice as Aston Villa moved a step closer to securing automatic qualification for the Europa League knockout stage with a straightforward victory over Young Boys. Author | Jay Dean Stadium | Villa Park Villa try to score Both goals arrived in a first half overshadowed by disorder in the away section. Malen was struck by a plastic cup while celebrating his opener midway through the half, and further disruption followed when he added a second just before the interval. Play was paused for several minutes as seats were torn out in the visitors’ end and more objects were thrown towards the pitch. The contest settled after the break and Villa eased to a seventh consecutive home win, continuing a revival that has gathered pace after a difficult start to the campaign in which they failed to win any of their opening six matches. Malen has been central to the turnaround. He climbed to head in Youri Tielemans’ precise cross for the first goal, then...

Aston Villa 1 - 0 Bologna  Captain John McGinn struck the decisive blow as a nervous Aston Villa scraped their first win of the season with a narrow victory over Bologna. Author | Jay Dean Stadium | Villa Park Players and fans celebrate Unai Emery’s side opened their Europa League campaign with three points but offered little to suggest their stuttering start is behind them. Villa looked tentative throughout and Ollie Watkins squandered the chance to ease the tension when his second-half penalty was saved. The win at least halted a frustrating run after a turbulent week off the pitch, with the president of football operations Monchi, departing and Roberto Olabe arriving from Real Sociedad as his replacement. McGinn’s early strike from the edge of the box, his second goal against Bologna after scoring against them in last season’s Champions League, proved enough. Before that Evann Guessand had already tested Lukasz Skorupski, who also denied the lively Donyell Malen as Villa pressed...