Donyell Malen scored twice as Aston Villa moved closer to progressing automatically for the Europa League knockouts with a comfortable win against Young Boys.
The Dutch forward’s goals both came in a first half that was marred by crowd trouble in the away end, with Malen getting hit by a plastic cup as he celebrated his 27th-minute opener.
There were more disappointing scenes after he got his second just before half-time, with the game halted for a few minutes after some seats were ripped up where the Swiss fans were and more objects were thrown towards the pitch.
But things settled after the break as Villa went on to seal a seventh successive home victory as their resurgence continued following a poor start to the season where they were winless in the first six games.
It has coincided with an impressive run of form from Malen too.
He powered in a header from Youri Tielemans’ fine cross for his first, and added the second three minutes before the break, guiding a clinical finish beyond the goalkeeper after being picked out by Morgan Rogers’ excellent pass.
Malen briefly thought he had a hat-trick as he tapped home Rogers’ cross in the second half, but it was ruled out as the England midfielder was offside when he burst into the box.
The double, though, made it 12 goals in 19 Europa League appearances for Malen, with eight for PSV, three with Villa and one for Borussia Dortmund.
Villa failed to take several opportunities to extend their lead, but also clearly eased off to preserve energy.
That proved a risky tactic, though, as Young Boys had the ball in the back of the net with their first shot on target, but former Hull City loanee Chris Bedia’s late strike was chalked off for offside after a long check by the video assistant referee (VAR).
The visitors were rewarded for their late pressure when Gregory Wuthrich lofted a lovely ball behind the home defence in the 90th minute and Joel Monteiro chested down and volleyed superbly past Emi Martinez.
Villa held on and are third in the league phase table but level on 12 points with the top two, while Young Boys are in 26th place with six points from five games.
Aston Villa analysis: Malen’s impressive month
After their early-season struggles, Villa are now riding high in both in Europe and the Premier League, with victory against Leeds at the weekend putting them fourth in the table.
They have now won 10 of their last 12 games and their upturn in form has also coincided with an impressive run from Malen as well.
Since the start of November, the 26-year-old has scored five goals in six appearances for club and country, and Young Boys could not cope with him on Thursday night.
He and Rogers enjoyed an impressive partnership, with the latter reading Malen’s runs well and he could easily have had a treble, but boss Unai Emery wisely withdrew him midway through the second period with Villa, at that point, in control.
Malen’s form also takes the pressure and spotlight off Ollie Watkins, whose difficult individual season continues as he was unable to add to his one goal in this campaign when he came on for the final 30 minutes, although did see a decent shot saved.
The hosts were far less effective in the final third after Malen and Rogers were withdrawn, and the finale not as comfortable as it perhaps should have been.
Young Boys analysis: Swiss side suffer in England again
Crowd trouble marred the first half as objects were thrown from the away end
