Donyell Malen grabbed a first-half double as Aston Villa secured a 2-1 Europa League victory over Young Boys but the result was overshadowed by trouble from the away support at Villa Park, who left the goalscorer bleeding after hitting him with a thrown object.
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 supporters of the Swiss side.
The goalscorer suffered a cut to the head after he was caught by a flying plastic cup following the opening goal, although he did not receive medical treatment, and objects were again thrown at Malen after his second goal in the 42nd minute.
Orchestrated clapping and singing turned ugly when Young Boys fell behind and the game was stopped for five minutes following Malen’s second strike 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 guided the ball beyond Keller.
In the aftermath of the goal, Malen and his team-mates went to celebrate in front of the away support and objects were thrown towards them. Malen came away from it sporting a cut to the head.
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.
Like his first celebration, Malen went towards the away fans and missiles were again thrown which caused clashes with police and 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 to cut 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 build-up.
The visitors did get their goal in the 90th minute when Monteiro latched onto a pass from Gregory Wuthrich and slammed into the back of the net, but Villa held on despite late pressure.
