Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Starting players: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Introduction
Latest Standings
The opening scores have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and are back in the safety of playoff places.
| Pos | Club | Matches | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Villa managed to hold on for the victory and moved level on points with leaders Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The English side struggled of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but only have additional time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
The Birmingham side, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, The striker.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: The German referee (from Germany)
Starting Players
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.
Official: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Match Background
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. The two clubs have a unique relationship, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final decades past that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis heading the only goal of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," wrote the match reporter. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is unlikely to be replicated – from the lower league to European stage in just three years."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to reach the final under manager Houghton.
This match is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since last month following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this live coverage. Rangers have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the group stage with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a playoff spot.
Coverage will persist with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
