Aston Villa Secure Narrow Win Over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tense Europa League Clash

Aston Villa defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 during Thursday's Europa League encounter, a game overshadowed by robust security arrangements in Birmingham, where visiting supporters were excluded owing to safety worries.

Around 700 officers were stationed near the venue as both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups conducted distinct rallies outside Villa Park ahead of the start.

The gatherings proceeded mostly without incident, though authorities reported six detentions for various infractions, including racial abuse and ignoring a dispersal directive.

Villa had declared a month earlier that no Maccabi supporters would attend, based on a police evaluation of risks.

This choice drew backlash, notably from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who attempted to overturn it, yet the Israeli team subsequently stated it would forgo allocating seats to its followers regardless, due to security fears.

On the day, approximately 200 pro-Palestinian activists assembled on one flank of the ground, voicing "Free Palestine" slogans and showing placards urging an Israeli boycott alongside its removal from global football competitions. 

A smaller group of around three dozen pro-Israel demonstrators positioned themselves opposite, brandishing Israeli banners and carrying signs stating "Keep anti-Semitism out of football".

In the match itself, Villa went ahead just one minute into stoppage time of the opening period via Ian Maatsen.

Donyell Malen extended the advantage not long before the 60-minute mark, propelling Unai Emery's squad to nine points from their initial four fixtures.

"(It was a) good evening," Villa boss Emery remarked to TNT Sports.

"Focus and respecting the competition and the teams. We were playing solidly and playing seriously."

In other action, Roma triumphed 2-0 away to Rangers with goals in the first half from Matias Soule and Lorenzo Pellegrini.

This outcome lifted Gian Piero Gasperini's team to 18th position, whereas struggling Rangers remain rooted at the bottom.

It proved a tough evening for teams from Glasgow, as Scottish title holders Celtic suffered a 3-1 loss to Midtjylland.

With a flawless record of four victories from four games, the Danish outfit lead the league stage table on a maximum 12 points.

Sean Dyche's sophomore European outing as Nottingham Forest manager ended in a 0-0 draw against Sturm Graz in Austria, despite Morgan Gibbs-White squandering a penalty in the 35th minute for the away side.

The top-flight English outfit hold a single point clear of the drop zone.

Ex-Manchester United forward Antony scored his 15th strike for Real Betis since his January loan arrival, later turned permanent in the off-season, helping the Spanish outfit prevail 2-0 over Lyon.

Two further French Ligue 1 outfits, Nice and Lille, also tasted defeat. Nice lost 3-1 on their own pitch to second-ranked German side Freiburg. Bruno Genesio's Lille were beaten 1-0 away by Red Star Belgrade.

Celta Vigo claimed a 3-0 success on the road at Dinamo Zagreb, while Porto shared the spoils in a 1-1 stalemate against 10-man Utrecht from the Netherlands.

Belgium's Genk survived a high-scoring affair to beat Braga 4-3 away, and late efforts from Bilal El Khannouss and Deniz Undav delivered a 2-0 success for Stuttgart versus Feyenoord.