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The prevailing sense was of relief that, after all the breathless conjecture and discussion that had dominated the nation’s news cycle at times, an event with no real winners passed safely. At least Aston Villa did what was expected of them, ultimately coming through with comfort against a respectable Maccabi Tel Aviv team who had chances to make a sleepy affair more interesting. They needed the points to put their Europa League campaign back on track, settling for a rasping Ian Maatsen finish and, in the second half, a Donyell Malen penalty.
This tie had loomed glaringly when it was drawn out in August. Back then there was a sizeable clamour for Israeli clubs to be barred from European competition, a stance pressed home by several placards held by protesters outside the stadium. That has largely quietened since a ceasefire was agreed in the Gaza war but the noise around Maccabi’s visit was ramped up when visiting fans were banned from attending the game on public safety grounds. In the event, protests in the ground’s periphery were largely contained and had almost completely abated by the game’s halfway point.
Inside Villa Park, the game’s backstory was told most starkly by the empty banks of seats in the Doug Ellis Stand that has housed away supporters since time immemorial. “You’ve seen the Villa, now fuck off home,” was the chant directed that way by the home choirs, noticeably depleted in number, shortly after kick-off. The adaptation of a chide commonly heard at domestic games was of a piece with a quiet, mellow atmosphere far removed from the scenes a few metres outside the stands.
The protests there had never quite boiled over, a few minor skirmishes in the two hours before kick-off bringing six arrests. One group of Villa fans, trading chants with members of the well-attended pro-Palestine demonstration behind the Trinity End, was restrained from further confrontation by some of the 700 police officers deployed to keep order.
A counter-protest in support of Israel, just around the corner, was eventually led away from the stadium without any escalation.
So began a contest in which those who had entered the arena did, indeed, stick to football even if it was something of a drag. In less troubled times it would have been hard enough to rouse this venue for a workaday encounter in the depths of a sprawling league phase; in a slow-burning first half the nagging sense was that, given the context and the occasion’s sheer awkwardness, nobody would mind getting this assignment ticked off quickly and quietly.
It took Villa, much-rotated but still in need of an improvement on their defeat at Go Ahead Eagles, 35 minutes to warm up. That was when Morgan Rogers tricked through an hitherto obdurate Maccabi defence but saw the keeper Roi Mishpati block bravely. Mishpati then denied Malen from an angle but Maccabi, given no hint of negative reaction from the supporters inside, had otherwise given as good as they received.
They could even have scored in the 24th minute when, after sloppy Villa buildup from the back was compounded by a woeful touch from Jadon Sancho, the right winger Osher Davida’s deflected shot spun a foot wide of the far post. Before half-time they squandered the best chance of the half when the left-back Roy Revivo, completely untracked, entered the box and centred for Dor Peretz. It should have been a tap-in but Peretz allowed Emiliano Martínez to save from inside the six-yard box when there was plenty of the goal to locate.
Fans or no fans, something was spurring Maccabi to trade blows with their hosts. But they were left to regret Peretz’s inaccuracy in added time when, following smart interplay between Sancho and Rogers, a bursting Maatsen was able to blast the ball just inside Mishpati’s far post from close to the byline.
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Was there anything left in the match now? Ten minutes after the interval Maccabi were denied again when, in another fruitful incursion down the left, Helio Varela raced clear and located Peretz. This time the striker was 12 yards out and could afford himself a touch before taking aim; again he shot too close to Martinez, whose footwork and solid parry were exemplary.
One of those chances had to go in and it was little surprise that Villa quickly made things safe. Malen had just worked Mishpati from an angle when, after Elad Madmon was judged to have clipped Ezri Konsa for a soft-looking penalty, he was offered a chance to go one better. He converted unfussily, clearly welcoming a third goal of the season, and the night’s work was effectively wrapped up.
Malen almost added another but was denied brilliantly by Mishpati. It was left for John McGinn, coming on for his 300th Villa appearance, to spur the biggest cheer of an unsettling night.
