Aston Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv: Hosts prevail at Villa Park amid off-field tensions

Aston Villa ran out 2-0 winners against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League on a night when the football was threatened to be overshadowed by events away from the pitch.

An Ian Maatsen strike and Donyell Malen penalty ensured Unai Emery’s took all three points amid a heightened police presence at Villa Park.

More than 700 officers lined the streets before kick-off following a blanket ban on Maccabi fans designed to quash any prospect of clashes with pro-Palestine supporters.

West Midlands Police confirmed that six arrests had been made outside the ground before kick-off, including three for “racially aggravated public order offences”.

A sluggish start from the hosts

Emery insisted his only focus had been the football, but he will have been far from comforted by what he saw in a largely lacklustre first 45 minutes from his team.

The visitors went close when captain Dor Peretz found Osher Davida inside the Villa penalty area, but his effort took a slight deflection, taking it past Emi Martinez’s far post.

But Villa started shifting up the gears, Morgan Rogers weaving past three players before drawing a save from Roei Mishpati in the Maccabi goal.

Six minutes before the break, however, the visitors squandered a glorious chance when Roy Revivo squared to Peretz who, just a few yards out and with the goal gaping, shot straight at Martinez.

It would prove costly. Minutes later, Villa ensured they would go into half-time in front after Rogers, Jadon Sancho and Maatsen combined down the left before the latter squeezed the ball in off the crossbar from an almost impossible angle.

The Dutch full-back nearly doubled his tally for the night shortly after the restart when his long-range drive was saved by Mishpati, while Malen poked wide from the rebound.

Malen redeemed himself on the hour-mark, however, sweeping home a penalty after Ezri Konsa went down under contact from Elad Madmon.

Suddenly, Emery’s side had breathing space. With a quarter of an hour remaining, Malen went close again, racing onto Youri Tielemans through ball, but the forward’s effort was well-saved.

The game petered out in the final stages, with Villa prevailing on what unravelled as a rather straightforward evening on the pitch and – in the ground at least – a peaceful one off it.