6 arrests made amid demonstrations before Aston Villa beat Maccabi Tel Aviv

Aston Villa 2

Maccabi Tel Aviv 0

SIX PEOPLE were arrested ahead of Aston Villa’s highly charged Europa League fixture with Maccabi Tel Aviv, which passed without serious incident.

The league phase match at Villa Park, which the hosts won 2-0, became a major political event after the Israeli club’s supporters were banned from attending due to fears over their safety.

The decision was made by Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group, with Villa having no involvement, but it sparked a parliamentary-level debate as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called it “wrong”.

More than 700 police officers were deployed amid a huge security operation, which involved police horses, police dogs and a drone unit ahead of planned pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests.

And six arrests were made before kick-off, three of which were on suspicion of racially aggravated offences.

The others were for failure to comply with orders and breaching the peace.

A pro-Palestine protest was held outside the Villa’s stadium before kick-off, where hundreds turned up with Palestinian flags and anti-Israeli banners.

Speeches were made calling for an end to violence in Gaza and for the Israeli club’s expulsion from Uefa as well as the Eurovision Song Contest.

There was a flashpoint as a woman holding an Israeli flag walked past, but she was quickly escorted away by police before it escalated.

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There was also a counter-Israeli protest at the other side of Villa Park, with protesters holding up signs reading “Keep anti-semitism out of football”, while five flatbed vehicles were driven past the ground carrying electronic billboards showing messages opposing antisemitism.

One of the messages, beside a Star of David, read “Ban hatred not fans” while another carried a quote from Thierry Henry saying football is not about goals but bringing people together.

There were some unsavoury scenes as Villa fans chanted Tommy Robinson’s name as they walked past the pro-Palestine protest, with police quickly intervening.

Villa had implemented a strict ticketing policy, which only allowed people with a previous purchase history to buy them.

Fans were also warned against displaying flags or political banners as per Uefa regulations, a request that was adhered to throughout.

It was cordial between the two teams before kick-off as the stadium announcer encouraged Villa fans to give their visitors a warm welcome, while Villa walked out with mascots dressed in the Maccabi colours.

The absence of the away fans was showcased by a large swathe of empty seats in the Doug Ellis Stand, but fears there would be trouble in the ground soon passed, with Villa fans resorting to gallows humour.

They chanted “S*** support my Lord” and “You’ve only come to see the Villa”.

It was a largely benign atmosphere inside the stadium as Villa coasted to the win, which aids their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages directly.

Goals from Dutch pair Ian Maatsen and Donyell Malen set up a 2-0 victory.

At the halfway point in the league phase, they sit sixth in the table, with games against Young Boys, Basel, Fenerbahce and Salzburg still to come.

They did not have it all their own way, though, and could easily have been behind when Osher Davida’s shot was deflected just wide.

After Morgan Rogers almost scored a wonder goal by dancing into the penalty area, Maccabi missed an even bigger chance to go ahead.

Skipper Dor Peretz will have nightmares about how he managed to shoot straight at Emiliano Martinez from inside the six-yard box when he had an empty net to aim from after Roy Revivo’s cutback.

That proved costly as Villa went ahead on the stroke of half-time when Maatsen scored from an impossibly acute angle, crashing in off the crossbar after good link-up play with Rogers and Jadon Sancho.

Another golden chance went begging in the 55th minute as Peretz was wasteful again after he shot straight at Martinez from Helio Varela’s pull-back.

And four minutes later, it was 2-0 as Malen converted from the penalty spot after England international Ezri Konsa had been pulled back by Elad Madmon.