Aston Villa 1 West Ham 2: Ward slams melee at WSL game after Cissoko is sent off for hitting Mayling
CARLA WARD says she could never have envisaged the furious exchanges that followed Hawa Cissoko’s red card during Aston Villa’s loss to West Ham.
Dagny Brynjarsdottir bagged one of the fastest WSL goals this term as the ten-player Irons beat Villa 2-1 on the road.
But the victory was marred after tempers flared with Irons defender Cissoko and boss Paul Konchesky sent off.
The France centre-back got into a heated injury-time exchange with Sarah Mayling and appeared to take a swing at the Villa defender.
Rachel Daly could be seen appearing to hold the Hammers ace back before she was given her marching orders by referee Cheryl Foster.
Following the red card Cissoko’s France pal Kenza Dali could be seen calming the player down as she walked off the pitch.
But tempers flared again moments later on the touchline between a Villa player and Cissoko.
Ward said: “I’ve never seen anything like that in a game, the punch in the face from Cissoko is not acceptable.
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“The melee in the dugout is absolutely not okay, from what I’ve seen.
“What’s frustrating is our girls were superb, they deserved more from that game.”
“We prepped the girls all week that this was going to be a physical afternoon.
“Did we envision that physical? Did we envision that ugly? No (we didn’t)
“But credit to my players they didn’t get involved and that’s really important because it’s important that we stay focused on playing football.”
During the fracas, Paul Konchesky got into a dispute with staff on Villa’s bench before being sent off for aggressive behaviour.
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After the game, the Irons chief told reporters: “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 the players and that’s why you see, not a scrap, but you see it all going, near the dugouts.”
Of Cissoko’s red card the West Ham boss added: “Hawa is upset.
“She’s apologetic because she knows she’s a big part of us and we’re going to miss her. We’ll have to deal with it in the weeks to come.”
Before the game, Carla Ward joked about a Barclays WSL manager of the month curse after winning the prize for Villa’s storming start to the season.
It looked like the Bescot Stadium gaffer had a point in the opening moments.
Her team went behind in the second minute with Kirsty Smith’s corner kick nodded home by Brynarsdottir.
Villa, who had the most possession and shots on target, saw Daly send a looping header wide of Irons keeper Mackenzie Arnold’s post.
Their tough afternoon got even harder with Honoka Hayashi doubling the Hammers’ lead.
She did so with a cheeky 13th-minute volley through the legs of stopper Anna Leat.
Dali looked to tee up Daly in the 23rd minute before Viviane Asseyi hit the side netting for the Hammers following a dodgy Mayling back pass.
And Mayling saw her free-kick hit the wall before forcing a flying save from Mackenzie Arnold.
The second spell saw Villa crank up the pressure in a bid to battle their way back into the game.
And they came close to doing so with Kate Longhurst’s handball earning the hosts a pen taken by Alisha Lehmann.
But the Swiss forward saw her effort saved with Ward heard asking Daly why she did not take the spot-kick.
Villa deservedly got off the mark in the 77th minute with Dali firing in a top-corner shot.
But the Hammers held out with the game running to 100 minutes for stoppage time after the clash between Cissoko and Mayling.
The result saw West Ham move up to sixth and level on points with Villa who are fifth.