Maatsen hails clean sheet and victory

Ian Maatsen was happy to collect all three points and record a valuable clean sheet in Aston Villa’s 2-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The Dutchman opened the scoring with a well-taken finish from a tight angle in first half injury time – his maiden goal of the season.

And it was compatriot Donyell Malen who doubled Villa’s advantage from the penalty spot just before the hour mark.

“(It feels) very good, at home with the fans,” Maatsen told VillaTV.

“Clean sheet, two nice goals.

“Very happy and very pleased.”

He added: “This win is a very good win for us towards our goal.

“We need to do it game by game and now we have to recover, focus on the league again, and then after the international break we go with the other matches."

Victory moves Unai Emery’s side up to sixth place in the UEFA Europa League standings on nine points following Matchday 4.

It was a cagey encounter at Villa Park until Maatsen’s opener, with the attacking left-back slamming the ball past Maccabi goalkeeper Roi Mishpati and into the net off the underside of the crossbar from an acute angle.

“I tried to just make things happen in the final third," he said.

“I was sometimes a little bit frustrated because I had to find the right pass at the time.

“But we kept going and today I was in the right position.”