Roma tame Midtjylland, Malen double earns Villa win over Young Boys
Agency :
AS Roma ended Midtjylland’s perfect record in the Europa League with a 2-1 home win on Thursday, while a Donyell Malen double earned Aston Villa a 2-1 win over Young Boys where the Swiss away fans disrupted proceedings at Villa Park.
Elsewhere, Celtic came from behind to win at Feyenoord.
Midtjylland were the only side on maximum points after four matches but it was Roma who went in front at the Stadio Olimpico in the seventh minute.
Zeki Celik’s floated pass into the box was met by Neil El Aynaoui’s crisp volley to put the Serie A leaders in control and Roma looked to have wrapped up the win seven minutes from time with Stephan El Shaarawy’s side-footed finish.
The visitors pulled one back with three minutes remaining, substitute Paulinho’s goal making for a nervy ending for the home side. El Shaarawy rocked the crossbar with another effort as Roma held on and are now on nine points.
Midtjylland still lead the table but Villa’s win moves the Premier League side level on 12 points with the Danes.
Villa made their early pressure pay off in the 27th minute when Youri Tielemans sent a cross into the box and Malen rose between two defenders to power a header which the keeper could only push onto the upright on its way into the net.
Young Boys continued to sit back and Villa took control three minutes from the break. Malen, sent through on goal by Morgan Rogers, skipped past a defender on his way into the box before calmly steering his finish into the far corner.
Play was stopped for a few minutes after the goal as police dealt with trouble in the away end. Young Boys captain Loris Benito went over to plead for calm, as fans launched objects onto the pitch – not for the first time during the game.
Malen had the ball in the net again after the break although he was denied a hat-trick by a Rogers offside in the build-up and the visitors looked to have pulled one back with their first chance of the game but Chris Bedia’s goal was also chalked off.
Young Boys did net a 90th-minute goal through Joel Monteiro, who chested down a floated ball into the box before firing home but the Swiss side were unable to pull off what would have been a remarkable comeback having offered little at Villa Park.
Celtic were 1-0 down by the 11th minute with Ayase Ueda scoring for Feyenoord and what could be Interim Manager Martin O’Neill’s last game in charge looked like ending in their third loss of the competition but they were in front by the break.
Reo Hatate put in a looping ball towards the back post where Yang Hyun-Jun arrived to smash home and Feyenoord keeper Timon Wellenreuther, under pressure from Celtic’s Daizen Maeda, played a poor ball out that Hatate struck first time into an empty net.
Feyenoord came close to levelling but Benjamin Nygren’s effort eight minutes from time sealed the win for the visitors.