Aston Villa secured a 2-1 victory over Young Boys in the Europa League at Villa Park, moving closer to knockout qualification. Donyell Malen scored both goals for the hosts in a dominant first half, though the match was briefly halted due to crowd trouble. Young Boys pulled one back late through Joel Monteiro.
Aston Villa hosted Young Boys in the Europa League on November 27, 2025, at Villa Park, with kick-off at 17:45 GMT. The match showcased Villa's strong home form, as they asserted control early. Donyell Malen opened the scoring in the 27th minute with a precise header from Youri Tielemans' curling cross, following a measured build-up involving Pablo Bogarde.
Malen doubled the lead just before half-time, finishing a team move initiated by Morgan Rogers, who surged forward and slipped the ball across for Malen to control and shoot past keeper David von Ballmoos—wait, sources say Keller. This brought Malen's season total to six goals. However, celebrations after his first goal sparked tension, as Young Boys supporters threw cups and objects, striking Malen and causing a cut to his head. The game paused for five minutes while police and stewards intervened, and captain Loris Benito addressed the crowd to restore order.
Young Boys managed no shots on target in the first half, highlighting Villa's dominance. After the break, Malen had a potential hat-trick goal ruled out for offside, and Jadon Sancho was denied by a save. Substitutions included Ollie Watkins and Ross Barkley for Villa, and Joël Monteiro for Young Boys.
With 20 minutes left, Young Boys' Chris Bedia had a goal disallowed by VAR for an offside cross. Monteiro finally scored in the closing stages, chest-controlling a long ball and volleying past Emiliano Martinez to make it 2-1, setting up a tense finish. Ian Maatsen was booked for time-wasting, but Villa held on.
Post-match, manager Unai Emery praised Malen: “He’s progressively getting better. Progressively he is getting fit and he played with his national team (Netherlands). He is doing his tasks over his goals and for me the most important thing is how he is working, how he is getting fit and better. Doing his tasks like we are tactically demanding from each player and then he’s getting numbers, which is fantastic. He’s helping us and really performing very good and keeps going.” On the incident, Emery said: “We need respect for both sides. It is not necessary to get a moment like we had today. Respect for both sides. I think he’s (Malen) OK.”
Young Boys' Gerardo Seoane apologized: “It’s a pity for everybody throwing the objects. The result is not nice for anybody. We apologise, we don’t feel good and not the way our supporters are normally, or how we want to act when we are guests somewhere and no one wins at the end, everybody loses in this situation.”
