Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Final whistle: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Team news: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Introduction
League Position
These early results have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and returned to the secure playoff places.
| Rank | Side | Played | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Villa managed to hold on for the win and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The English side had difficulty of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
The Swiss side created a chance through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Hatate and Nygren.
Game Developments
The Birmingham side, concurrently, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with visiting fans engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the officers and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: Osmers (from Germany)
Starting Players
The Light Blues: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, The attacker, The forward, Horta.
Official: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Match Background
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The both teams have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final decades past that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the mafficking," commented the writer. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European stage in a short period."
Worth mentioning to reflect upon Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to make the championship match under manager Houghton.
This match is a far cry from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after beating Liverpool 3-0 at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. The Scottish side have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
