Aston Villa manager Unai Emery and his Brentford counterpart Thomas Frank were unhappy with the behaviour of their players after both sides had a man sent off in a chaotic Premier League match on Sunday.
Villa came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory at Brentford's Community Stadium, with Ollie Watkins scoring an 85th-minute winner against his former club and sparking a goalmouth melee with his celebrations.
THIS TEAM! 😍 pic.twitter.com/NoRRFjwC8b
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 17, 2023
Brentford defender Ben Mee was sent off after 71 minutes for a foul on substitute Leon Bailey, while Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara was given a red card for violent conduct in added time.
Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's attempt to drag Brentford striker Neal Maupay to his feet prompted another flashpoint.
The referee booked 10 other players plus both managers - Frank for his complaints about Mee's red card and Emery for going onto the pitch to restrain Martinez.
All 14 cards came in the second half.
"I want to analyse collectively and individually with the players, but it is my spirit when we are playing and winning to try to respect everything," Emery told Sky Sports.
"On the pitch, the players are excited, both teams had some nervous moments, and things like what we saw can happen.
"My message before the matches is always the same - respect ourselves, respect the opponent, respect the referees. We lost a little bit of our minds today in some of those behaviours, I want to focus and react to control it."
Frank was also not happy with his side's conduct and said there were too many situations where he thought: 'No, that's not how it should be".
"It should be the beautiful game in a physical contest between two teams and there should be a winner, but unfortunately there were situations that will take the headlines," he added.
Villa are flying high in third place, just a point behind leaders Arsenal, while Brentford are 12th having lost five of their last six league games.