Aston Villa's Malen struck on head by missile before game is suspended

Donyell Malen opened the scoring for Aston Villa during their Europa League clash with Young Boys on Thursday evening, before he was struck on the head by a foreign object projected towards him by the away support at Villa Park

Donyell Malen was left with a cut on his head after being struck by a projectile during Aston Villa's clash with Young Boys on Thursday evening. The forward opened the scoring at Villa Park 27 minutes into the match.

Youri Tielemans picked up the ball on the edge of the area before whipping it into the Dutchman with precision, leaving Malen to nod home from close range. However, scenes of jubilation as he wheeled off in celebration soon turned ugly, as the 26-year-old was pelted by foreign objects as he approached the away end at Villa Park.

As his team-mates held their hands up in confusion at the away support, Malen was hit on the head by one of the thrown objects, quickly ducking down as he moved away from the carnage. Morgan Rogers was also caught on the stomach by a projectile, quickly lifting his shirt up to check he hadn't been injured.

During the scenes, TNT Sports commentator Sam Matterface was heard saying: "Well we said the Europa League is Donyell Malen's playground, and for the most part he enjoys himself. But he's not going to enjoy the missiles coming at him from the Swiss supporters.

"The cups and the drinks that have been thrown his way. But he's the one celebrating and he's the one who will be raising a glass, because he has just scored his 11th goal in the Europa League in 19 matches in the competition to put Villa into the lead."

He later added: "More concerning is that Donyell Malen has been hit on the head, and he has been cut on the head. You can just about see that on the top of his head. The referee now is about to take action."

Thankfully, the injury to Malen's head was minor enough for him to play on, allowing him to exact his revenge on Young Boys fans just ahead of the break. After receiving the ball from Rogers while breaking through the backline, Malen dribbled into the box, cut inside and fired it past a floundering Marvin Keller.

The game was then temporarily suspended as tensions boiled over once more, as Young Boys captain Loris Benito approached the stand to try to calm matters down. Speaking at the time, Matterface added: "Those who were throwing cups at him earlier on might live to regret it.

"Captain's gone over to have a word with them to try and calm them down. They're going to find themselves in a huge amount of trouble, the club will be fined for their fans' behaviour. There's all sorts happening here, which is not the kind of scenes that we want to see at any level of football.

"The police are now getting involved with the supporters, and the fights that are breaking out are quite severe, to be honest with you. Especially in the front row. There are cups being thrown, there are punches being thrown, there are helmets being dislodged off of the top of the heads of policemen.

"And it's turned into a proper scuffle. There's a line of about 15 or 16 policemen right on the front row of the away section. There are punches being thrown, there are cups and other items being tossed at the police. But it's actually quite a severe situation that's broken out. It does feel as if it's now being calmed, but it is a flashpoint which has put a stain on the game."

Matterface then highlighted how tensions began to flare up once more, as supporters were dragged away from the "violent scenes," and seats were ripped out of the stands. Police eventually managed to restore order, as play resumed.

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