Donyell Malen left bleeding as Young Boys fans clash with police at Aston Villa game | OneFootball

Young Boys manager Gerardo Seoane apologised after his team’s Europa League match at Aston Villa was marred by crowd trouble, but claimed that the club’s supporters were “provoked” by Villa goalscorer Donyell Malen.

Malen scored twice in the first half of the 2-1 win, but the Netherlands international was left bleeding after he was pelted with objects from the away end at Villa Park. Malen celebrated both goals in front of the Young Boys supporters, but received a cut on the head when a cup apparently thrown by away fans struck him on the head.

The match was halted for more than five minutes after Malen’s second goal, as the Young Boys captain Loris Benito appealed to supporters to calm down. Fans also clashed with police, and images captured some fans throwing punches. Officers in riot gear were deployed in the second half.

The Swiss team have a history of fan trouble, and they have been hit with several sanctions from Uefa in recent years. Supporters were fined €28,250 for a similar incident at Manchester City, and around €18,000 for the use of pyrotechnics at Celtic in February, while they were ordered to play a game behind closed doors last season after fans let off pyrotechnics in a match against Inter Milan.

“It’s normal when you score, you want to be with your teammates,” Young Boys manager Seoane said in his post-match press conference. “Maybe it was a small provocation [by Malen], I don’t know. Maybe our fans took it this way. But our fans should not react so heavily.

“The referee asked our captain to go with the supporters, and he was going there to calm [them down] a bit. Some supporters came down to have a talk, and some police reacted like they were going to jump on the pitch, but this was not the intention.

“It’s a pity [to go] from the provocation to thinking they would jump on the pitch. And the result is not nice for anybody. We apologise, I don’t feel good. It’s not how we want to act when we are guests somewhere, and I think nobody wins and I think everybody loses from this situation.”

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Malen suffered a small cut to the head when he was hit by a plastic cup (Getty)

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A Young Boys fan is escorted from the stadium by police during the match at Villa Park (PA)

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery confirmed that Malen was “OK” and said: “We need respect for both sides. It is not necessary to get a moment like we had today. Respect for both sides.”

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 guided the ball beyond Keller.

In the aftermath of the goal, Malen and his teammates went to celebrate in front of the away supporters, and objects were thrown towards them. Malen came away from it sporting a cut to the head.

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Aston Villa’s Dutch defender Donyell Malen (left) celebrates scoring the opening goal (AFP via Getty)

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BSC Young Boys fans clash with police and stewards after Malen scored Aston Villa’s second goal (Action Images via Reuters)

The hosts were going through the gears and had their second three minutes before the break. Morgan Rogers played a neat pass to Malen, who cut inside and dispatched expertly into the back of the net.

As with his first celebration, Malen went towards the away fans, and missiles were again thrown, which caused clashes with police and prompted the referee to stop the game for five minutes.

On the pitch, Villa continued to boss proceedings. They thought they had a third when a long ball over the top was played to Rogers and he squared to Malen, who thought he had a hat-trick, but the assistant flagged for offside and cut the celebrations short.

Young Boys looked to have halved the deficit when Alan Virginius played the ball across for Chris Bedia to convert, but, after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was disallowed for offside in the buildup.

The visitors did get their goal in the 90th minute, when Monteiro latched on to a pass from Gregory Wuthrich and slammed it into the back of the net, but Villa held on despite late pressure.