Outside of Villa Park, things were more tempestuous with six arrested before the Europa League match.
Key events
That’s all from me. Thanks for reading and for your emails. Until next time!
Here’s a reminder of the early results in the Europa League, including Midtjylland 3-1 Celtic and Sturm Graz 0-0 Nottingham Forest. Sean Dyche’s side had a penalty saved, with Morgan Gibbs-White spurning the chance from 12 yards.
Rangers 0-2 Roma: Ewan Murray’s match report
Outside of Villa Park, things were more tempestuous with six arrested before the Europa League match.
Aston Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv: Nick Ames’ match report
This is what Thursday’s results to do the Europa League league phase standings. Midtjylland top the table and are the only team to retain a 100% record after their 3-1 win over Celtic. Rangers are rock bottom.
Full-time results in the late kick-offs
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Job done by Unai Emery’s side.
Full-time: Rangers 0-2 Roma
An expected defeat for the Glasgow side, who are in a real state of flux. Danny Röhl has changed the formation in recent weeks and look all at sea, particularly in Europe. There are some players just not performing to their potential: Mikey Moore, on loan from Tottenham, was particularly poor tonight.
Aston Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
90 min: Tielemans has only been on the pitch for 15 minutes or so, but the Belgian has been a cut above since coming on. He is just so silky, always makes the right decision and has a killer pass in that right boot. Six minutes added on at Villa Park. It has been a peaceful evening inside the ground at least. Six arrests made outside before the match.
Rangers 0-2 Roma
86 min: Ibrox is beginning to empty, with Rangers looking dead and buried even at 2-0 down. Bottom of the 36-team standings, their European race looks run, despite us only reaching the half-way stage of the Europa League league phase. Danny Röhl has quite the job on his hands, starting with a trip to Dundee on Sunday.
GOAL! Stuttgart 1-0 Feyenoord (El Khannous 84)
I thought El Khannouss was excellent in a poor Leicester side last season in the Premier League and the Moroccan, on loan from the Foxes, has given Stuttgart a late lead here, rising to nod a brilliant header off the bar against Feyenoord.
GOAL! PAOK 4-0 Young Boys (Abdul Rahman Baba 75)
Abdul Rahman Baba, the former Chelsea full back, has scored PAOK’s fourth goal, which have all come in the past 20 minutes. An interesting side, PAOK, who have former Celtic full back Greg Taylor and Dejan Lovren lurking on the bench.
Aston Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
76 min: Thirty seconds after coming on, Tielemans gives the entire Maccabi defence the eyes and plays an inch-perfect through ball to Malen, whose shot is beautifully tipped wide by Mishpati. Good football all around! Tielemans, who has been sidelined with injury, immediately shows the Villa fans what they have been missing for the past two months.
Rangers 0-2 Roma
75 min: “That Roma kit is gorgeous alright, but it looked a bit Wolvesie in the pre-match team photo,” emails Justin Kavanagh. “And no-one wants to play like Wolves this season. But it seems a shade darker (more menacing and nearer to the Netherlands, maybe).”
Rangers 0-2 Roma
70 min: As if to prove the gulf between Rangers and Roma, the visitors have just brought on Brazilian full-back Wesley Franca, who cost €25m in the summer.
Aston Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
66 min: The visitors have definitely dropped off after their first-half performance. Villa are happy to stroke it around and have the luxury of bringing on Ollie Watkins and Boubacar Kamara.
Here is some footage of the pre-match protests outside Villa Park.
Rangers 0-2 Roma
A miss of the season contender at Ibrox, as Celik fluffs his lines from all of two yards out! Tsimikas, on loan from Liverpool of course, lays the chance on plate for his Turkish teammate with a bobbling cross across goal. The ball avoid everyone but Celik, who is caught in between trying to head and kick the ball in and does neither, the ball hitting his thigh, ballooning up onto the underside of the bar and bouncing just clear! WHAT A MISS!
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv (Malen 58)
Malen shoots low and hard to the keeper’s right, and Villa double their lead. Perhaps I was wrong in my last post, there was contact between the knees of Madmon and Konsa, causing the latter to trip. An important goal for Villa, who should see this out now and can maybe spare some of their big guns on the bench.
PENALTY to Aston Villa!
Maccabi Tel Aviv are furious as VAR uphelds the referee’s decision to award a penalty, after Madmon is penalised for challenging Konsa in the box. I have to say that it looks harsh on the Israeli side, the contact looked minimal.
Aston Villa 1-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
54 min: Chance for Malen to double Villa’s lead! From a short free-kick, Maatsen takes aim from range. It’s an awkward, bouncing shot, parried by Mishpati but the ball falls to Malen, who can only poke the rebound wide! Mishpati was hurt as he tried retrieve the rebound, taking a face full of knee from Malen. I think the Maccabi keeper is going to be OK to continue.
Aston Villa 1-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
51 min: Big decisions for Emery this half. How seriously does he want to take this competition. Villa lead but could easily have gone into half-time behind. Emery made five changes from the side that lost at Liverpool at the weekend and that was a poor first-half showing, despite Maatsen’s late goal. I noted that John McGinn and Youri Tielemens (who hasn’t played since 13 September) warming up at half-time, so perhaps Villa will bring some of their big names off the bench in this second half.
GOAL! Braga 1-2 Genk (Yira Sor 49)
Genk come from a goal behind to take the lead in Portugal, with Yira Sor smashing a shot off the crossbar and in!
Rangers 0-2 Roma
48 min: “Rangers v Roma has felt like a bigger mismatch than it probably is,” emails Kári Tulinius. “The Giallorossi physically stronger and dangerous everytime they attack. Other than Chermiti, the Light Blues look, well, lightweight. But Roma haven’t seemed entirely solid in defence, on the rare occasion they face a concerted attack, so it shouldn’t be over as a contest. However, their opponents play like they’re overawed by the occasion, which is weird for a club of that size and stature.”
A reminder that Roma are just one point adrift of Serie A leaders Napoli in Italy. Gasperini has certainly strengthened Roma since his arrival.
Peeeeeeeeep!
We are back underway in our nine Europa League games.
Half-time reading: our round-up of the early Europa League results.
Half-time scores!
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv (Maatsen 45+1)
Rogers the architect as he nips a ball through to the underlapping Maatsen. It’s an impossible angle, but the Dutch full-back somehow lifts the ball over Mishpati and the ball kisses the underside of the keeper before squeezing over the line! A lovely goal!
GOAL! Real Betis 2-0 Lyon (Antony)
Manchester United flop Antony continues his excellent form, following on from his two goals at the weekend in La Liga. It’s a route one goal, as the Brazilian latches onto a simple ball over the top, before impudently lobbing the advancing goalkeeper with a first-time finish!
Aston Villa 0-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
40 min: Whisper it, but Maccabi are on top at Villa Park and should really have taken the lead! Revivo times his run to perfection from left back, beating the Villa offside trap. The Israel international drives into the box, cuts the ball back to the unmarked Peretz, but the striker shoots straight at Martínez from four yards out! It was easier to score!
Rangers 0-2 Roma
39 min: Rangers so nearly strike back as Chermiti nicks the ball and drives to the byline, lashing a dangerous low cross across the six-yard box. Roma keeper Svilar gets a hand to it but pushes the ball out into a dangerous area. Moore arrives for Rangers … but a magnificent tackle from Hermoso (I think) prevents the Tottenham loanee from converting the rebound!
GOAL! Rangers 0-2 Roma (Pellegrini 36)
Bad to worse for Rangers, who now trail by two goals! Dovbyk holds the ball up well, holding off Souttar and laying the ball back to Pellegrini, who sidefoots a finish into the corner from 20 yards!
GOAL! Real Betis 1-0 Lyon (Ezzalzouli 30)
A very similar goal to the Roma one, as Betis win a near post flick on from a corner, with Ezzalzouli stealing in unmarked to convert a tap in from close range.
Aston Villa 0-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
27 min: A confident email from Villa fan Benjamin Gravestock: “Villa have started OK; it will be interesting to see how the front three work tonight, especially with Ollie Watkins so out of form. Feeling fairly confident the Go Ahead game was like Bologna last year, a bit of an odd aberration in an overall good campaign. Think we should win tonight in reasonable comfort.”
Aston Villa 0-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
24 min: Maccabi press high as Sancho gives the ball away and suddenly the Israeli side are in, with Davida surging into the Villa box, cutting back and just firing wide via a deflection. Villa were lucky there, and the home crowd groan, giving Sancho plenty of food for thought. The (former?!) England international has been poor so far.
22 min: Remarkable that we have had over 20 minutes played in nine Europa League matches and just the solitary goal, at Ibrox.
Aston Villa 0-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
20 min: Nice feet from Sancho, who releases Malen inside the Maccabi box. The Dutchman shoots, which is deflected behind for a corner, the ball completely wrongfooting Mishpati in the visitors’ goal but rolling wide of the post. That could have gone anywhere.
Aston Villa 0-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
17 min: Brief panic in the Villa defence as Martínez is forced to come out of his area and clear a through ball away with his head, the ball diverting into midfield with Villa’s goal completely untended.
Rangers 0-1 Roma
16 min: Chance for Rangers! Souttar lumps the ball forward and after a defensive mix-up for Roma, the ball breaks kindly for Chermiti, who races through on goal! It’s a tight-ish angle, and Ndicka does well to recover and apply pressure, but Chermiti gets his shot off, shooting juuuuuuuust wide.
GOAL! Rangers 0-1 Roma (Soule 13)
Rangers completely switch off from a Roma corner. Cristante wins a near-post flick on and Soule is completely unmarked at the back post to tap it in. A terrible start for the Scottish side.
Aston Villa 0-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
7 min: Just as he did in the defeat to Go Ahead Eagles a couple of weeks ago, Victor Lindelof is in at right back for Villa tonight. Maccabi are sitting deep and will look to hit their hosts on the counter attack, and may target the space in behind Lindelof. Osher Davida, on the left wing for Maccabi, is quick.
Aston Villa 0-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
4 min: Some pre-match pyro has meant there is a bit of smoke in the Villa Park air but no sign of any protests inside the ground.
Rangers 0-0 Roma
4 min: It’s a fiery start at Ibrox with both sides surging forward. Roma are in a particular fetching away kit, a gold number with no sponsor. Lovely.
Peeeeeeep!
We are underway in our nine 8pm GMT kick-offs!
Here is what those early results have done to the Europa League standings, with obviously the late games to come. Midtjylland top after their win over Celtic, Rangers bottom.
Six arrests made before Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Avi
Six people have been arrested during protests in Birmingham ahead of Aston Villa’s match with Maccabi Tel Aviv, West Midlands Police said.
The force said a 21-year-old man was arrested for failing to comply with an order to remove a face mask while a 17-year-old boy was arrested for failing to comply with a dispersal order.
Three other people were arrested for racially aggravated public order offences and another person was arrested for breach of the peace. PA Media
Full-time results in early kick-offs: Celtic lose, Forest held 0-0
Some more updates from outside Villa Park, courtesy of PA Media.
Around 200 protesters including members of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign gathered near a children’s playpark adjacent to Villa Park’s Trinity Road stand. Palestinian flags and banners calling for a boycott of Israel had also been placed on the ground beside Trinity Road amid pro-Gaza chants.
Police officers briefly formed a cordon to prevent a surge of protesters after an Israeli flag was reportedly waved by a passer-by. Witnesses said the woman was ushered into a side street and spoken to by police before leaving the area.
Five flatbed vehicles were driven past the ground prior to kick-off of the Europa League match, carrying electronic billboards showing messages opposing antisemitism. One of the messages, beside a Star of David, read “Ban hatred not fans” while another carried a quote from Thierry Henry saying football is not about goals but bringing people together.
Villa supporter Adam Selway arrived for the match wearing a half-and-half scarf in the colours of the home side and Maccabi Tel Aviv. The 48-year-old said he was not making any political statement, felt sympathy with fans unable to attend and simply wanted to watch a football match. “It’s not about politics, it’s about football,” he said. “It’s not the Villa fans that don’t want anyone here – the Villa fans want the away fans here.”
If you are wondering why Evan Ferguson, the Brighton striker on loan at Roma, is not in the Italian club’s squad this evening, that is because he is sidelined with injury. However, Ferguson was included in the Republic of Ireland’s squad for the international break next week – decisive World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and Hungary – although Ireland’s manager Heimir Hallgrimsson stressed he would only potentially available for the second fixture.
Artem Dovbyk leads the line for Roma tonight.
It’s worth flagging that Rangers are bottom of the Europa League standings – 36th of the 36 teams. They are three games into the eight-game league phase and if the Glasgow side have any chance of clawing their way to the top 24 by the end of it, which would mean they would enter a play-off round to reach the knockout stages, they badly need a result against Roma tonight, no small task.
Rangers were heavily beaten by Brann in their last European game – Danny Röhl’s first game in charge – and also lost to Celtic at the weekend in the Scottish League Cup, although that was with 10 men and in extra time.
Barney Ronay
The man moved on by the police for “breaching the peace” is the 17 year old YouTuber Young Bob. It’s not exactly clear but they seemed to be trying to move him on from broadcasting near the main pro Palestine demonstration using special powers in place for the duration. He was heard talking animatedly to police as they tried to get him to leave the area. He has now been escorted away.
“The best name on the pitch at Villa Park has got to be Roy Revivo, the son of Israeli legend Haim Revivo,” emails Peter Oh. “Arguably even better than Roy of the Rovers.”
Revivo is playing at left back for Maccabi, with Jadon Sancho expected to be his opposite number on the right wing for Villa.
Nine further Europa League matches kicked off at 5.45pm GMT, so those matches are ongoing and into the second half. There are some notable scores:
Bad news for Martin O’Neill and co: Celtic are being battered 3-0 by Midtjylland, who are on course to maintain their 100% record in the Europa League this season. Braga and Lyon, due to kick off at 8pm GMT, are the only other teams that could feasibly stop the Danish side from topping the table come the end of the night.
Nottingham Forest are being held 0-0 by Sturm Graz, the Austrian side that Celtic beat a couple of weeks ago.
Unbeaten in the Portuguese league and top of the table with nine wins and one draw from their first 10 games, Porto on course for another European defeat at Utrecht (following their loss at Forest last month), but former Norwich man Borja Sainz has just scored to make it 1-1 in the Netherlands.
There are about 20 minutes to go in each of these fixtures.
Nick Ames
Just over an hour until kick-off at Villa Park and the scene is relatively calm, although not without a distinct undertone. The police presence here – more than 700 officers from 10 different forces – is vast, a large semi-circle of them stationed in the parkland behind Trinity Road. One woman was led away by police after carrying an Israel flag through the crowds outside; she was targeted by chants from among the numerous pro-Palestine protesters present, although there was no suggestion of any violence. A handful of other Israel flags have also been spotted. Police have been using dispersal orders when faced with the few minor altercations that have arisen so far. The insistent presence of YouTubers and influencers seems to be occupying as much of their time as anything.
Team news (selected)
Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Aston Villa: Martinez, Lindelof, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen, Bogarde, Onana, Sancho, Rogers, Guessand, Malen.
Subs: Bizot, Oakley, Cash, Barkley, McGinn, Tielemans, Elliott, Buendia, Watkins, Digne, Kamara, Broggio.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv: Mishpati, Asante, Shlomo, Camara, Revivo,
Madmon, Sissokho, Noy, Varela, Peretz, Davida.
Subs: Gerafi, Melika, Heitor, Andrade, Jehezkel, Gropper, Ben Harush, Lederman, Abu Farkhi, Shahar, Ben Hamo, Nicolaescu.
Rangers v Roma
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Souttar, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Raskin, Meghoma, Moore, Gassama, Chermiti.
Subs: Kelly, Wright, Diomande, Aasgaard, Cornelius, Cameron, Antman, Miovski, Fernandez, Rice, Curtis, Danilo.
Roma: Svilar, Mancini, Hermoso, N’Dicka, Celik, Cristante, El Aynaoui, Tsimikas, Soule, Pellegrini, Dovbyk.
Subs: De Marzi, Gollini, Rensch, Kone, Ziolkowski, Wesley, Romano, Pisilli, Ghilardi, El Shaarawy.
Real Betis v Lyon
Real Betis: Valles, Ruibal, Llorente, Natan, Gomez, Roca,
Fornals, Antony, Lo Celso, Ezzalzouli, Bakambu.
Subs: Adrian, German Garcia, Bellerin, Bartra, Altimira, Avila, Amrabat, Riquelme, Deossa, Hernandez, Ortiz, Pablo Garcia.
Lyon: Greif, Maitland-Niles, Kluivert, Niakhate, Abner Vinicius, de Carvalho, Tessmann, Karabec, Merah, Molebe,
Satriano.
Subs: Descamps, Konan, Tagliafico, Sulc, Afonso Moreira, Mata, Morton, Barisic, Goncalves.
Bologna v Brann
Bologna: Skorupski, Holm, Heggem, Lucumi, Lykogiannis, Moro, Ferguson, Bernardeschi, Fabbian, Cambiaghi, Castro. Subs: Ravaglia, Pessina, Pobega, Orsolini, Rowe, Casale, Zortea, Odgaard, Dallinga, Miranda, Vitik.
Brann: Dyngeland, De Roeve, Helland, Sery Larsen, Dragsnes, Kornvig, Sorensen, Gudmundsson, Mathisen, Finne, Haaland.
Subs: Bramel, Knudsen, Boakye, Hansen, Castro, Soltvedt, Pedersen, Sande, Laegreid, Remmem.
Stuttgart v Feyenoord
Stuttgart: Nubel, Jeltsch, Jaquez, Chabot, Mittelstadt, Andres,
Stiller, Assignon, El Khannous, Tomas, Undav.
Subs: Bredlow, Hellstern, Hendriks, Vagnoman, Fuhrich, Karazor, Leweling, Zagadou, Bouanani, Nartey, Catovic, Jovanovic.
Feyenoord: Wellenreuther, Read, Ahmedhodzic, Watanabe, Smal, Timber, Larin, Valente, Hadj Moussa, Ueda, Borges.
Subs: Berger, Bossin, Nieuwkoop, Sauer, Tengstedt, Diarra, Lotomba, Sliti, Plug, Kraaijeveld, van den Elshout.
Preamble
We are here because we love association football, but sport does not exist in a vacuum. Sometimes it can be caught in the crosshairs of something larger and that is certainly the case tonight.
This is a football liveblog, and we have nine Europa League 8pm GMT kick-offs to follow, of which Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv is one. My focus is on the football but I will also bring you any notable developments around the fringes of Villa Park, should there be any.
In case you are catching up on the controversy around Villa v Maccabi, and the ban on the visiting fans, here is some useful reading, in rough chronological order.
Despite the ban and Maccabi not accepting any tickets, tensions around the match remains high. Villa have warned supporters against displaying political symbols, messages or flags during the match. Protesters stood at the entrance of Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground this week displaying a Palestine flag and a rally scheduled on Thursday in support of Palestine and calling for Israel to be suspended from Uefa and Fifa. Residents local to Villa Park have expressed their anxiety before the match.
On Wednesday evening West Midlands police confirmed section 60 powers will be in place from midday on Thursday until 3am on Friday. Police horses, police dogs and a drone unit will be in use. Schools in Birmingham are closing early amid fears of unrest.
Away from Villa Park, there is eight other late kick-offs to be excited about: especially Rangers v Roma and Real Betis v Lyon. I only have two hands to type but I’ll do my best to keep you abreast of all the goals from around the continent.