Chris Mepham red card: Bournemouth defender sent off after ‘rugby tackle’ on Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo in play-off semi-final
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Wales international Chris Mepham has been red carded in Bournemouth’s crucial play-off semi-final second leg match against Brentford.
The 23-year-old centre-back was given his marching orders when the two sides had scored one goal apiece on Saturday afternoon (2-1 aggregate to Bournemouth).
The fixture took a potentially game-changing turn after 27 minutes when Frenchman Bryan Mbeumo nicked the ball from Mepham and looked to race through on goal to equalise on aggregate.
After failing to control the ball, Mepham opted to bring down Mbeumo in a manoeuvre not dissimilar to a rugby tackle.
The former Brentford player departed the field to chants of “Chris Mepham, he’s one of our own” from opposition fans.
It left the referee with little choice but to red card the player, with the Cherries being left with just 10 men for the remainder of the clash.
David Brooks was subsequently replaced in a reshuffle.
The winner of the match will face the winner of Swansea City v Barnsley in the play-off final at Wembley, with Mepham set to miss the game should the south coast club get past the Bees.