Football writer Dan Edwards reports on Thursday's UEFA Europa League and Conference League matches featuring Premier League clubs.
Malen's brace gives Villa victory
Aston Villa 2-1 BSC Young Boys
Aston Villa made it four wins from five in this season’s UEFA Europa League to put themselves in a commanding position to reach the last 16 automatically, with a top-eight finish required to do so.
A number of Villa's first-team players were rested from the start by Unai Emery, with Donyell Malen starting in place of Ollie Watkins.
Watkins is struggling for form this season, contributing just one goal in all competitions, and Malen is therefore pushing for a starting place in the Premier League.
And the Dutchman made his case to Emery tonight.
Although he was wasteful early on when twice failing to connect with the ball from close range, he was rewarded for his endeavour when scoring twice in the space of 15 minutes before half-time.
He belied his height to rise well and skilfully head home a floated cross from Youri Tielemans for his first goal, while he benefitted from a masterful touch, sprint and pass from Morgan Rogers for his second.
Malen got away from Young Boys centre-back Sandro Lauper to receive the ball from Rogers before cutting back inside to finish.
Those goals took Malen’s Europa League record to 12 goals in 19 appearances, and his European pedigree hints at what could occur if he were given regular minutes domestically.
He has at least given his manager food for thought.
Young Boys threatened to make a game of it when substitute Joel Monteiro scored on the cusp of added time, but Villa clicked back into gear and saw the rest of the game out comfortably.
"The team was very focused in the match”, Emery said after the win.
“My first analysis after the match is that we were consistent but when we were winning 2-0, we did not use our opportunities to score a third.
"We know we need the goal advantage to be in the top eight in the Europa League. We relaxed a little bit in the second half.”
"One month ago he demanded that I change him because he was tired”, Emery said of Malen. “Progressively he has been getting fit. He is getting numbers which is fantastic. He is really performing well. Now, keep going."
Emery’s side made a slow start to the season, but they are officially purring now – they’ve won 10 of their last 12 games in all competitions and each of their last seven at Villa Park.
They will back themselves to make it eight in a row when hosting Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, and Malen has done everything he can to try and convince Emery to reward him with a successive start.
See: Aston Villa's report and line-up
Yates leads by example for Forest
Nottingham Forest 3-0 Malmo
There was already a nostalgic undercurrent to this fixture given Nottingham Forest defeated Malmo in 1979 to win their first European Cup under Brian Clough, and that nostalgia was intensified when none other than Nottingham-born club captain Ryan Yates opened the scoring in the 27th minute.
It gave Forest the lead they deserved, with Yates finishing confidently (below) from just inside the penalty area after Nikola Milenkovic’s cross was deflected neatly into his path.
Forest doubled their lead just before half-time when a well-worked short corner resulted in a free header in the box for Yates, who would have doubled his own tally if not for a great save from Melker Ellborg.
Unfortunately for Ellborg, Arnaud Kalimuendo was on hand to convert the rebound at close range from a tight angle, a chance that he made look much easier than it was in reality.
Forest put the win beyond all reasonable doubt before the hour-mark after another set-piece routine ended with Milenkovic scoring from close range.
Yates was central to proceedings once again, this time seeing a well-hit volley blocked by his own team-mate, Milenkovic, before the Serbian stuck the ball in the back of the net himself.
After four consecutive defeats saw Ange Postecoglou relieved of his duties, Forest have now been defeated just once in seven under Sean Dyche, and he appears to have officially steadied the ship.
This win was Forest’s third on the bounce, their longest streak since a seven-game winning run that ended in January of this year under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Their next three matches, against Brighton, Wolves and Everton, offer them a chance to pull away from the relegation zone, of which they are currently just one point clear.
See: Forest report and line-up
Palace suffer narrow defeat in France
Strasbourg 2-1 Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace were the only losers as Oliver Glasner’s side wasted a host of chances in a defeat to Liam Rosenior’s young Strasbourg side on the French-German border.
Anyone who keeps an eye on French football will have known that Strasbourg are not to be taken lightly – especially so given their partnership with Chelsea under the BlueCo umbrella means they have a squad filled with future talents, many of whom have past and future commitments to Premier League clubs.
Strasbourg were no doubt the superior side for the first half hour, and Crystal Palace were perhaps fortunate to avoid conceding early on, with Dean Henderson saving well from Samir El Mourabet in the 10th minute.
But Palace held their nerve and capitalised on Strasbourg’s initial wastefulness when taking the lead through Tyrick Mitchell in the 35th minute.
A hopeful ball was lofted in the general direction of Jean-Philippe Mateta by Adam Wharton - who had been on the pitch a matter of minutes after replacing Will Hughes - and the Frenchman did fantastically well to hold off Lucas Hogsberg before breaking Strasbourg’s defensive line with a clever pass to find Mitchell.
Mitchell is more renowned for his defensive interventions than his attacking forays, and it’s Daniel Munoz who is more highly regarded as the box threat on the opposite side, but the Englishman’s fizzed finish to the back post would have made any striker proud.
Palace should have made it two only minutes later when Strasbourg goalkeeper Mike Penders, on loan from Chelsea, was left stranded 30 yards from goal after a misplaced pass.
The ball was intercepted by Ismaila Sarr, but with the goal gaping, the Senegalese winger rushed his shot and only found the inside of the post before watching the ball fly across the goal line and out for a goal-kick.
Sarr, and Palace, were made to pay when Strasbourg equaliser early in the second half through their captain Emmanuel Emegha.
Emegha, who is set to join Chelsea in the summer of 2026, finished off a quick attacking move when found at the back post by Diego Moreira after Julio Enciso had split open the Palace backline.
Astonishingly, in a repeat of Sarr’s earlier chance, Wharton missed an open goal to hit the crossbar after Penders was left in no man’s land once again following a loose pass.
Then, only minutes after a Yeremy Pino shot was expertly saved at close range by Penders, Strasbourg completed the reversal.
An Enciso free-kick rattled Henderson’s right post before falling to the feet of El Mourabet, who guided the ball into an empty net on the half volley for the first goal of his senior career.
Defeat leaves Palace down in 18th place in the Conference League table and with work to do to climb into the automatic last 16 qualification spots.
Next though is the visit of Manchester United to Selhurst Park on Sunday.