Cliff Notes – Young Boys boss Gerardo Seoane apologises for fan violence at Aston Villa
- Young Boys manager Gerardo Seoane expressed regret over the violent actions of fans during the Europa League match against Aston Villa, acknowledging potential provocation from Villa players’ celebrations.
- The match was briefly halted due to clashes between Young Boys supporters and police, resulting in injuries, including a cut to Villa’s Donyell Malen from objects thrown by fans.
- Villa manager Unai Emery condemned the incidents as unnecessary, emphasising the need for respect between both teams and confirming that Malen is recovering well.
Young Boys boss Gerardo Seoane apologises for fan violence at Aston Villa
The Young Boys manager apologised for his team’s supporters’ violent actions at Aston Villa on Thursday night.
Villa won 2-1 in the Europa League with two goals from Donyell Malen who was left with a cut to the head from objects thrown by Young Boys fans.
The away supporters also clashed with police at Villa Park.
The game was paused for five minutes and Young Boys captain Loris Benito went over to calm them down, before Joel Monteiro grabbed a late consolation.
Donyell Malen was left with a cut to the head against Young Boys. Getty
Young Boys boss Gerardo Seoane apologised for fans’ behaviour but admitted they may have been provoked by the Villa players celebrating in front of them.
Seoane also said fans came down from the stand to speak to the players but police thought they were attempting to jump onto the pitch, which caused chaos.
“It’s normal when you score a goal that you want to be with your team-mates. Maybe it was a small provocation, I don’t know,” he said.
“Our fans could have taken this as a provocation. “This is part of football but our fans should not react so angrily.
“The referee asked our captain to go calm our supporters. Some fans came down to talk to the players and the police reacted like they were jumping on the pitch, but that was not their intention.
“It’s a pity for everybody throwing the objects. The result is not nice for anybody.
“We apologise, we don’t feel good and not the way our supporters are normally, or how we want to act when we are guests somewhere and no one wins at the end, everybody loses in this situation.
“Football is with emotions. There is a rule to not provoke, nobody does it on purpose, it was more the joy of scoring.”
Villa boss Unai Emery did not have much to say when asked about the ugly scenes in the first half but felt they were “not necessary”.
He added: “We need respect for both sides. It is not necessary to get a moment like we had today. Respect for both sides. I think [Malen is] OK.”
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Emery admits Malen is improving rapidly after a sixth goal of the season, saying: “He’s progressively getting better. Progressively he is getting fit and he played with his national team [Netherlands].
“He is doing his tasks over his goals and for me the most important thing is how he is working, how he is getting fit and better. Doing his tasks like we are tactically demanding from each player and then he’s getting numbers, which is fantastic.
“He’s helping us and really performing very good and keeps going.”
Information from PA contributed to this report.