WILSHERE OFF AS FIGHTING MARS WIN
JONATHAN Woodgate swung to the defence of his Bournemouth players after a mass brawl marred their crucial victory over promotion rivals Watford.
Watford’s Joao Pedro and Bournemouth counterpart Jack Wilshere were both sent off in the stoppage-time fracas that saw coaching staff and substitutes from both camps spill on to the pitch.
The melee came after Arnaut Danjuma had won the game for Bournemouth with his seventh goal of the season 17 minutes into the second half.
Bournemouth head coach Woodgate said: “It did not look great, but that’s football and it was two teams very passionate and two sets of players who wanted to win.
“It happens all the time in rugby and does not get talked about it, but when it happens in football, everyone talks about it.”
It was only Bournemouth’s second home win over Watford since 1977 and Woodgate added: “We have to see that win as bedrock to climb up the table and it showed this team can fight.
“I want a hard under-belly, not a soft one and I want teams to know this is going to be a hard place to come and play.”
Bournemouth were boosted by the return of top-scorer Dominic Solanke, but he was starved of service early on.
Watford wideman Ken Sema blazed over with a fiercely-struck volley from just inside the penalty area.
And in the 25th minute another dangerous delivery from Kiko Femenia sought out Pedro at the near post, but he headed wide.
The first meaningful save for either keeper did not come until 11 minutes before halftime.
The lively Junior Stanislas teed up Lloyd Kelly on the corner of the 18-yard box and his angled drive was turned over by Hornets keeper Daniel Bachmann.
Danjuma came close to opening the scoring in the 55th minute when his goalbound shot was cleared off the line by Francisco Sierralta.
Dutchman Danjuma came close again soon after but was denied by a sprawling save from Bachmann.
The winning goal came in the 62nd minute when Steve Cook took a quick free-kick and released Danjuma to fire past Bachmann at his near post from a tight angle.
The match ended in ugly scenes sparked by Pedro’s late tackle on Jefferson Lerma, which resulted in a second booking and red card for the Watford man.
Substitute Wilshere followed down the tunnel soon after following a butt of heads with Tom Cleverley.
At one stage both sets of coaching staff and substitutes had spilled on to the pitch as pandemonium broke loose.
Watford manager Xisco Munoz said: “I am disappointed with the result but not the performance. My team was ambitious and played very hard.
“I said to the guys, ‘we need to keep going,’ because we were in a good moment with four wins in a row. This is not easy in the Championship.”
On the sending off, Xisco added: “I can see why he received the red card.”