Aston Villa returned to European action at a tense Villa Park on Thursday evening, seeking to regain momentum after a shock 2-1 defeat last time out against Go Ahead Eagles.
Unai Emery rang the changes after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield, making five alterations to his starting line-up.
Emi Martinez started in goal, flanked by a back four that included Ezri Konsa, captaining the side for the first time under Emery. Victor Lindelof, Ian Maatsen, and Pau Torres were also in front of the Argentinian.
Amadou Onana and Lamare Bogarde anchored the midfield, whilst supporting Malen were Evan Guessand, Morgan Rogers, Jadon Sancho, and Maatsen in the hosts’ attack.
Story of The Game
The hosts, who boast a 100% home record this season in the Europa League, began brightly against Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv, who are currently undefeated in the Israeli Premier League.
Within seconds, Villa pressed high and turned over possession inside the visitors' half. Onana quickly attempted to thread Rogers through for a one-on-one, only for Raz Shlomo to slide in for the interception.
Maccabi responded before the 10-minute mark, with the ball being played down the right for Osher Davida. The winger then found Helio Varela in space, but his attempt off his right was blocked by Konsa on the edge of the box, keeping Villa’s clean sheet intact.
Then the visitors were forced into an early change with Mohamed Ali Camara coming off after two early knocks, with Heitor replacing him in defence. As the half wore on, the contest almost settled into a stop-start spectacle lacking real fluency, which would’ve suited Zarko Lazetic’s Maccabi side.
Sancho, in a disjointed first half, played the ball forward for Malen in the box, only for his attempt to be deflected just wide. Sancho then gave away possession shortly following this, giving the visitors a genuine opportunity.
Davida continued his run forward, but his attempt was deflected, spinning wide and adding to the visitors' tally. This is, however, after only receiving 37% of possession. This was followed by Rogers confidently attacking the defence of Maccabi.
After some timely dribbling, Rogers worked his way into the visitors' box after keeping control up until Roi Mishpati stopped his chance. The 23-year-old then responded with a shot which just went over. Sancho then fired a cross into the six-yard area, which was headed away with creativity lacking for Emery’s men.
Before halftime, Maccabi almost broke the deadlock. The impressive Roy Revivo found himself in the Villa penalty area, where he eventually offloaded it to Dor Peretz, who should’ve scored but was denied by Martinez magnificently.
However, Villa found a breakthrough prior to the interval against a side who haven’t won in Europe this season. Dutchman Maatsen, despite beating the visitors' keeper, Mishpati. However, the ball came off the underside of the bar and miraculously went in from an acute angle.
As the second half began, after shouts from the Villa faithful, Maatsen from a distance had his effort saved, with Malen on the follow-up in short range, missing wide. This was followed by Mishpati receiving treatment for a sustained period, which resulted from attempting to block Malen’s attempt.
Peretz had another substantial chance after the ball was played across to him in the box, and after taking a touch, Martinez denied his opportunity. Malen then, from the counterattack, had his attempt saved by Mishpati.
Then, before the hour mark, Villa had the chance of doubling their lead after Konsa was brought down in the penalty area by Elad Madmon. After a long check by referee, Julian Weinberger stuck with his original penalty decision.
Mishpati went the right way but proved insufficient as Malen scored in the left corner. It felt like game over as Emery brought on Boubacar Kamara and Ollie Watkins shortly after this, replacing Torres and Rogers, as Maccabi struggled to generate forward momentum in the second half.
Youri Tielemans, who made his return after a 10-game absence, after being on the pitch for 30 seconds, made an immediate impact as Villa nearly scored their third of the evening. After playing in behind, Tielemans found the run of Malen, whose attempt was well-saved by the visitors' keeper.
Replacement, John McGinn made a cross from the right in the closing exchanges with Shlomo clearing the ball off his line. Villa remained comfortable as the game came to its conclusion, with Emery's side facing Swiss side BSCYoung Boys at**Villa Park** at the end of the month in their next European outing.