Aston Villa 2 Legia 1: Diaby and Moreno send Villa into knockouts but Conference League clash soured by fan violence

ASTON VILLA are through to the knockout rounds of the Conference League after beating Legia Warsaw 2-1.

But the match was marred by pre-match crowd trouble as Polish fans clashed with police.

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Moussa Diaby opened the scoring with a brilliant finishCredit: PA

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Alex Moreno netted the winnerCredit: Getty

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Police clashed with Legia Warszawa fans outside Villa ParkCredit: Getty

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Police battled the fans as flares were lit by the travelling supportCredit: Reuters

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Legia fans were banned from entering the stadium due to the troubleCredit: Reuters

Villa stormed ahead after four minutes – Youri Tielemans sent Moussa Diaby sprinting clear and the striker cut inside and fired into the net.

Legia equalised when Ernest Muci pounced on a blunder by Boubacar Kamara and curled a sensational shot beyond Robin Olsen.

Alex Moreno restored Villa’s lead when he got on the end of a Douglas Luiz free kick to fire beyond Tobiasz.

Sub Leon Bailey almost made it three with a lob that came back off the line.

Villa need just a point from their final game at Zrinjski Mostar to top the group. 

On the violence, riot police fought with hordes of missile-throwing Polish thugs who tried to storm Villa Park pre-match.

Ticketless Legia fans went on the rampage as three cops were injured and objects were hurled at home fans in the Holte End from OUTSIDE the stadium.

Legia fans were furious after they had their ticket allocation cut from 1,700 to 1,002 after violent clashes between Warsaw fans and Dutch police in Alkmaar.

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But almost 1,000 ticketless Polish fans tried to gatecrash the Villa Park turnstiles as NO away supporters were allowed in.

A Villa statement read: “An hour before kick-off, Legia fans engaged in planned and systematic violent acts against West Midlands Police officers. A decision was then made to exclude all Legia supporters.”

Some Legia fans did get into the home end only to be ejected by stewards.

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Aston Villa were the better side against Legia