Aston Villa beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 in the Europa League on a night of protests, arrests and a substantial police presence at Villa Park.

West Midlands Police made six arrests as pro-Palestine protests and smaller counter protests took place outside the ground, where over 700 police had been deployed, following the controversial move to ban fans of the Israeli side amid safety fears.

But on the pitch, Villa delivered the result they had been hoping for - despite a slow start. They are up to sixth place in the Europa League standings, well placed at the halfway point of the league phase to qualify for the knockouts.

Image: The Maccabi Tel Aviv players pose for a team photo in front of an empty away section at Villa Park

Villa had been lacklustre for the majority of the first half and should have gone behind to their winless opponents when Dor Peretz was teed up in the box but shot at the stricken Emi Martinez rather than into the gaping goal.

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