Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Goal scored!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Match concluded: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
League Position
These early results have significant impact on the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to 17th position and are back in the safety of qualification spots.
| Position | Club | Played | Goal Difference | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midtjylland | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 3 | Freiburg | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | Ferencvaros | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 5 | FC Porto | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 17 | Celtic | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 25 | Nottm Forest | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 35 | Rangers | 4 | -7 | 0 |
| 33 | Malmo FF | 4 | -5 | 1 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
The English side clung on for the victory and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. Villa made hard work of that during the closing minutes.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Game Developments
Villa, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with visiting fans clashing with police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with the player being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
The Reds: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: Harm Osmers (Germany)
Starting Players
The Light Blues: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and memories of 1979. The both teams have a historical link, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final from 1979 that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the revelry," commented the writer. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European football in three seasons."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Nordic team to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a far cry from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are riding high after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since last month following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the middle of the group stage with exactly zero. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
