Aston Villa beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 in the Europa League on an evening that was about far more than football, with Ian Maatsen's late first-half strike and a Donyell Malen penalty enough to strengthen Unai Emery's side in the league phase. Villa moved up to sixth after four games, well placed to qualify for the knockouts at the halfway stage.
Yet the result came on a challenging night on and off the pitch. With no fans of the visiting Israeli side allowed inside Villa Park, more than 700 police officers were deployed around the ground, where pro-Palestine demonstrations and smaller counter protests took place. West Midlands Police announced six arrests before kick-off, with Sky Sports reporting the figure later rose to 11.
An evening like no other at Villa Park
The bank of seats in the Doug Ellis Stand reserved for away fans sat empty all night, a stark reminder that nothing about the occasion was normal. Six weeks ago, there had even been a chance the fixture would not go ahead, with calls for Israeli clubs to be removed from continental competition. Last month's ceasefire dampened that pressure, but the ban on visiting fans — taken by Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group after intelligence from West Midlands Police about extremist Maccabi supporters — kept the temperature high.