Law enforcement personnel sustained injuries when Legia Warsaw supporters incited violence prior to their match against Aston Villa. Projectiles were launched at the officers while the away fans were being detained in the coach parking area near Villa Park, just before they were set to enter the venue for the Europa Conference League match on Thursday.
Three law enforcement officials sustained injuries, however, despite this, the match began as scheduled. Aston Villa emerged victorious with a 2-1 score against the Polish team. Prior to the start of the game, no Legia fans were permitted to enter the stadium. Villa vehemently denounced the actions of the visiting fans and expressed gratitude towards West Midlands Police for their response.
According to a statement from the police regarding X (previously known as Twitter), we are currently unable to permit visiting fans to enter Villa Park due to incidents of unrest outside the stadium, including the throwing of objects at law enforcement officers.
“Three police officers have sustained injuries and a large policing operation is ongoing. Please try to avoid Witton Lane if possible.”
According to the authorities, 39 individuals were detained following the “appalling and extremely risky incidents” that occurred after the game. One of the injured police officers was transported to the hospital.
Two canines and two equines from the police force were also injured.
Despite Legia being limited to only 1,000 tickets due to the misconduct of their supporters in a previous game against Alkmaar in the Netherlands, around 2,000 away fans still showed up. This caused a dispute between Villa and Legia, with both parties releasing statements condemning each other.
Villa released a statement after the match, expressing disappointment that Legia Warsaw did not cooperate with their requests to address safety concerns regarding their traveling supporters at Villa Park. Despite multiple attempts, including this morning, to raise concerns with Legia, Uefa, and other authorities, the visiting club did not provide any assistance in preventing ticketless away fans from attending the match.
Villa stated that Legia supporters deliberately and systematically committed acts of violence against officers from the West Midlands Police approximately one hour before the start of the match.
The club stated: “Aston Villa strongly disapproves of the actions of the visiting fans and expresses gratitude towards West Midlands Police for their handling of the challenging situation.”
Villa emerged victorious in the match, as Àlex Moreno’s goal secured their spot in the knockout stages with a 2-1 win. This marked Moreno’s first appearance of the season after recovering from a hamstring injury, and his goal propelled Unai Emery’s team to the top of Group E. The initial goal was scored by forward Moussa Diaby, but Ernest Muci capitalized on a defensive mistake by Boubacar Kamara to equalize the score.
However, Moreno scored the winning goal from a distance of six yards, securing Villa’s position as group winners. They now only need to earn a point in their match against Zrinjski Mostar in two weeks to advance directly to the last 16 and avoid a play-off round.
Source: theguardian.com
