Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Major Moments
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Match concluded: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Team news: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Introduction
Latest Standings
The initial outcomes have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and returned to the protected knockout positions.
| Pos | Team | Played | Difference | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Villa managed to hold on for the three points and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. Villa had difficulty of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a chance through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, meanwhile, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
The Reds: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, The forward, Busanello.
Referee: Harm Osmers (Germany)
Starting Players
The Glasgow side: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The both teams have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final decades past that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the mafficking," noted the journalist. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European stage in three seasons."
One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to reach the final under British coach Houghton.
Tonight's game is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. 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 early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. The Scottish side have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the midpoint of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a playoff spot.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
