West Ham Women’s boss Paul Konchesky sent off after huge bust-up with Aston Villa bench in fiery WSL clash
WEST HAM WOMEN’S boss Paul Konchesky was sent off for a pitchside bust-up in a fiery Women’s Super League clash with Aston Villa.
In stoppage-time during the Hammers’ 2-1 win, West Ham defender Hawa Cissoko was shown a straight red card for smacking Villa right-back Sarah Mayling in the face.
And in the melee which ensued, Konchensky was dismissed as both teams became embroiled in a touchline brawl.
Konchesky, who played for West Ham’s men’s team between 2005 and 2007, claimed after the game that the incident occurred because the Villa players were saying things to Cissoko.
Speaking about his own red card, the visiting boss said: “Is it harsh? Probably, because I’m sticking up for my player who is getting stuff said to her.
“Whatever the consequences are, I’ll take. We don’t want to see that, I get it, but I’ll stick up for my players, so I have.
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“As Hawa goes down the tunnel, some of their staff are saying stuff to my players, which I don’t respect.
“So me and my staff will obviously stick up for my players and that’s why you see, not a scrap, but you see it all going, near the dugouts.”
On Cissoko’s dismissal, he then added: “I’m not sure what happened. I did see Hawa raise her hands.
“She’s upset. She’s apologetic because she knows she’s a big part of us and we’re going to miss her.
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“It’s gone on now, we’ll have to deal with it in the weeks to come.”
Birmingham boss Carla Ward added: “I’ve never seen anything like that in a game, the punch in the face from Cissoko is not acceptable.
“The melee in the dugout is absolutely not OK, from what I’ve seen.
“What’s frustrating is our girls were superb, they deserved more from that game.”
West Ham won the WSL match thanks to two early goals from Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Honoka Hayashi.
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Villa midfielder Kenza Dali pulled one back in the second half but it proved to be merely a consolation for the hosts.
Meanwhile, Konchesky, who also played for Charlton, Fulham, Leicester, Liverpool and earned two caps for England, now runs a pie and mash cafe in Essex.