Aston Villa secured their place in the knockout levels of the Europa Meeting League on a evening tarnished by violent behaviour from Legia Warsaw supporters exterior Villa Park as three police officers were being wounded outside the ground.
Villa’s 2-1 win was overshadowed by ugly scenes in advance of kick-off as missiles had been thrown at officers by the travelling supporters, with about 1,000 believed ticketless enthusiasts building the journey to Birmingham.
Subsequently, none of the travelling aid were permitted within the absent conclusion for the match with chaos unfolding exterior and quite a few admirers arrested as the sport began.
An formal statement from Villa mentioned: ‘Approximately an hour right before kick-off, Legia supporters engaged in planned and systematic violent functions versus West Midlands Law enforcement officers and a final decision was then made by West Midlands Law enforcement to exclude all Legia supporters.’
Legia were being not happy with their reduced allocation following Villa lessened the amount of money of absent tickets to just 1,002 before this thirty day period, dependent on assistance from basic safety authorities as a final result of earlier huge-scale problem brought about by Legia lovers final month at AZ Alkmaar when a quantity of Dutch police officers have been injured.
Aston Villa secured a hard-fought 2-1 acquire about Legia Warsaw to seal spot in Meeting League knockout phases
Unai Emery’s gentlemen secured passage into the upcoming round with a sport to spare as they quelled a fightback from the Polish facet
Moussa Diaby experienced put the Premier League facet in advance in the opening 4 minutes at Villa Park
Ernest Muci’s spectacular end shocked Villa as he curled into the prime corner from length
Your browser does not help iframes.
The Polish club’s supporters ended up then banned from their up coming European away fixture at Zrinjski Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
UEFA levels of competition rules enable the traveling to crew five for every cent of the stadium’s ability, which would equivalent to 2,100 tickets at Villa Park.
In an formal assertion from Legia, the Polish facet accused Villa of refusing to allocate tickets to away followers in accordance with UEFA restrictions. Legia claimed that they ‘made a official ask for for this allocation’ but were ‘met with an unwelcome rejection’ ahead of a proposal of 1,700 tickets – mirroring the selection allotted to Villa admirers for the activity in Warsaw in September. That proposal was recognized in September in advance of Villa informed Legia on November 2 that the allocation would be slashed.
The statement said: ‘Instead of diffusing opportunity pre-match tensions, restrictive steps of Aston Villa F.C. as the host club needlessly exacerbate the atmosphere. In our view, this kind of measures are counterproductive and unfounded.’
But Alex Moreno netted his initially Villa target as he volleyed house from a corner in the 2nd fifty percent
The Spaniard celebrated wildly soon after having off the mark for the Midlands outfit
Legia CEO Marcin Herra extra: ‘From the starting, Legia Warsaw aimed to have the number of our club’s admirers in the stands in Birmingham as prescribed by UEFA regulation, and as it was the case with Aston Villa lovers in Warsaw.
The actions of the home team’s associates in advance of modern match led to an unnecessary escalation of damaging thoughts. However, VIP attendees and Legia Warsaw sponsors also experienced, as they have been hindered from acquiring tickets and therefore prevented from getting into the stadium. This is incompatible with all specifications for UEFA matches.’
Legia admirers have record in England, with a few guys sentenced in 2021 just after 14 officers had been attacked and hurt in the course of a Europa League game among Leicester and Legia.
The Villa assertion included: ‘In spite of quite a few requests for cooperation from Legia Warsaw concerning their travelling supporters, particularly in the final two times, no aid on the critical protection matter of absent supporters attending Villa Park was forthcoming from the checking out club.
The club has consistently elevated worries in conjunction with UEFA and all the applicable authorities to Legia that ticketless absent supporters were attempting to attend Villa Park.
The match was overshadowed by clashes concerning Legia Warsaw followers and police
Polish supporters lit off flares as the clashes turned unappealing in advance of kick off in Birmingham
No Legia Warsaw followers were being permitted to show up at the game following the violent clashes
Villa experienced by now experienced for the knockout phase following AZ Alkmaar defeat Zrinjski Mojstar in the earlier video game and Unai Emery’s aspect went into the contest knowing that a two-purpose win would safe their location in the last 16, by virtue of profitable the team.
The group who end 2nd in the team would have to enjoy two excess game titles in February in the play-off spherical to qualify for the final 16.
Unai Emery created six modifications from the side that beat Tottenham on Sunday and it took just four minutes for them to just take the lead with the first assault of the activity.
Youri Tielemans place Moussa Diaby by way of and the Frenchman reduce in right before curling a still left-footed strike into the bottom corner.
On the 20th moment mark, Legia equalised thanks to a great end from Ernest Muci just after Boubacar Kamara carelessly gave the ball absent in his own 50 %.
Villa restored their lead on the hour mark when Douglas Luiz’s no cost-kick from deep picked out Alex Moreno, who finished properly.