Donyell Malan scores twice but Aston Villa win is marred by trouble in away end

Donyell Malen struck a first-half brace as Aston Villa secured a 2-1 Europa League victory over Young Boys amid trouble from the away support at Villa Park.

A positive night for Villa – which gave them a seventh straight home win – was marred by trouble from travelling fans, who have a history of causing problems.

Malen took his tally for the season to six to give Villa a deserved two-goal lead at the break, but that resulted in home players being pelted by objects thrown by visiting supporters.

The goalscorer suffered a cut to the head after he was caught by a flying plastic cup.

Orchestrated clapping and singing turned ugly when Young Boys fell behind and the game was stopped for five minutes as fans clashed with police in the Doug Ellis Stand and even needed captain Loris Benito to calm them down.

Dozens of police officers were deployed in riot gear in front of the away end and no further trouble occurred after the interval.

Young Boys supporters were fined €28,250 for similar issues at Manchester City a couple of years ago and around €18,000 for the use of pyrotechnics at Celtic in February.

The action on the pitch played second fiddle for a while and Joel Monteiro’s late consolation did not stop Villa from earning a fourth win from five in the competition as their superb form continued.

Villa were keen to assert their authority from the first whistle and Malen’s effort from range inside four minutes looked destined for the back of the net, only for goalkeeper Marvin Keller to tip the ball over the crossbar.

The home side made the pressure count and grabbed the opening goal in the 27th minute.

Youri Tielemans collected the ball on the edge of the area and had time and space to lift it onto the head of Malen who