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'It wasn't a red card' - Brentford boss Thomas Frank disputes Bee Mee's dismissal in defeat to Aston Villa

Sam Rooke

Published 17/12/2023 at 17:26 GMT

Brentford surrendered a 1-0 lead to slip to a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, a loss which hinged on the dismissal of defender Ben Mee. Mee's red card came with the home side leading and saw them surrender control to Unai Emery's rampant Villa side. Villa made it five wins in six and moved temporarily second in the Premier League with their comeback victory.

BRENTFORD, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 17: Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa celebrates after scoring during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Aston Villa at Gtech Community Stadium on December 17, 2023 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Vince Mignott/MB

Image credit: Eurosport

Aston Villa made it five wins in six on Sunday afternoon when they saw off 10-man Brentford 2-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium.
It was a comeback win for Villa after Keane Lewis-Potter opened the scoring for Brentford on the stroke of half-time. Lewis-Potter was the fastest to react to a loose ball in the box following a Brentford corner, escaping his marker to lash home the opening goal.
The match swung on the dismissal of Ben Mee with 20 minutes to play. The defender was initially given only a yellow card for a sliding, studs-up challenge on Leon Bailey, but a VAR intervention saw the decision upgraded.
It was then Bailey who created the equalising goal in the 77th minute, looping a cross to the far post for the unmarked Alex Moreno to head home. Villa's leading goalscorer Ollie Watkins then scrambled home the winner from an 84th-minute corner to complete the comeback victory.
Watkins, playing against the team with whom he made his name, celebrated vociferously after scoring.
Bailey almost turned villain for the Villains with a near disastrous back pass which only just avoided finding the back of the visitors' net.
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In the sixth of 10 minutes of second half stoppage time, Boubacar Kamara was also dismissed following a shoving match that involved the majority of the players on the pitch. The incident was sparked by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez shoving Sergi Canos.
Martinez was shown a yellow card for his part in the incident, one of 10 handed out in a rather spiteful afternoon in west London.
After the match, winning scorer Watkins defended his celebration against the club for whom he made 143 appearances.
He said: "It was a feisty game, it spurred from my celebration but that's not down to a lack of respect for the fans. I've not got a bad word to say against them. But there was one person who was abusing me all game, the celebration wasn't to anyone else but him."
His former boss Thomas Frank echoed Watkins' comments after the match.
He said: "Ollie and I went to each other after the game and he said there was a situation with a fan. I know Ollie is a top person of top integrity."
Frank was however far less accepting of the Mee dismissal which had changed the game. Booked at the time for his protests, Frank continued in his press conference.
He said: "It wasn't a red card, not at all."
In his post-match press conference, Villa manager Unai Emery was asked about the dramatic clash between the teams near the end.
Emery said: "I want to explain to the players how we can react to pressure and provocation from them. It was something I don't want in our behaviour."
Trying to shift focus to Villa's performance on the pitch, Emery continued: "The most relevant thing is how we played and how we won the match. We have to control our behaviour.
"I want to control the things I don't want to have with my team. Tomorrow we are going to meet speaking overall about the analysis of the match. One part of it is to talk about what happened in different moments of the match [including when tempers flared]."
Continuing to praise his team, Emery said: "We competed very well. We didn't compete like this in Bournemouth. They were playing without some key players and it was a very good opportunity for us. It is very difficult to win here. We respected them and imposed our game plan."
The visitors also lost defender Pau Torres to injury late in the match, and Emery was asked for information.
He said: "Hopefully it is a small injury. Hopefully. The big problem today is the red card of Kamara."
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