Bournemouth stars involved in nasty head clash in opening minutes of Aston Villa game – leaving one bloodied and the other concussed – as fans fume after player is allowed to continue

In Bournemouth’s Premier League match against Aston Villa, there was a long break in the first half after a worrying clash of heads between two players of the visiting team.

Just minutes before kick-off at 2pm, Bournemouth duo Tyler Adams and Adam Smith were lying on the grass in pain after challenging for the same ball.

In an environment where events took a worrying turn, players from both teams urgently called the medical team to run onto the field and come to the aid of the injured duo.

After treatment from club doctors and medical staff, both eventually stood up to a heartwarming applause from the Villa Park crowd.

However, blood was flowing from Smith’s head and he was taken aside for further treatment as Bournemouth continued the match with 10 men.

Shortly after further medical assessments it was decided that the Cherries captain was unable to continue and he was replaced 10 minutes later by Alex Jimenez.

The pair were immediately treated by team doctors and paramedics at Villa Park on Sunday.

Bournemouth captain Adam Smith suffered blood from his head after collision

Adams’ outlook was brighter, but he appeared disoriented when he stood up. However, he was allowed to play.

This decision drew ridicule from some fans taking to social media who were concerned about Adams’ health.

Former USA midfielder Taylor Twellman was among those to condemn it, writing about X: Having just seen the head-to-head with Tyler Adams and Adam Smith can @premierleague explain to me how Adams was allowed to continue??? Anyone with two eyes can see that he is disoriented. Smith is on leave and Adams is not…..that makes sense.’

“It’s terrible that they let Tyler Adams continue,” one fan wrote. It should have been rejected along with ‘Adam Smith’. ‘This was a brutal head-on collision.’

Another fan wrote: ‘Why is Tyler Adams still on the field, when he stood up he looked like he had no idea where he was.’

Speaking after the match, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola announced that Smith had suffered a concussion.

Asked by the Daily Echo about the 34-year-old’s post-match situation, Iraola said: ‘I’m talking to him right now.

‘He looks fine now, he’s fine and he remembers everything. But right now I think it’s a very hard hit.

Smith was taken off the field and received treatment but was unable to continue

Aston Villa and Bournemouth players attend to injured duo before medical help arrives

Adams allowed to continue Premier League campaign despite appearing confused

‘And the doctor immediately said, I was bleeding profusely. But it wasn’t about the blood, it was about the concussion, and that was clearly a decision to surrender him.

‘And I hope so, because now that I’ve seen him and talked to him, I think it’ll just be that, but we’ll have to wait.’

Explaining why Adams was allowed to continue, the Spaniard said: ‘The guy was worse than Tyler.

‘They told me live on air that Tyler was going to move on, Adam was almost impossible but he wasn’t 100 percent, it took a little bit of adjusting too.

‘But I think he’s finished the game. So I hope there’s nothing there in his case.’

Sunday was a disappointing day for Bournemouth as they were beaten 4-0 at Aston Villa.

Emiliano Buendia put Villa ahead with a superb free kick from outside the penalty area just before the half-hour mark.

Villa added a second when Morgan Rogers flicked on Alex Jimenez and passed the ball to Amadou Onana, who fired a low shot into the corner of the goal.

Bournemouth had a chance to halve the deficit but Antoine Semenyo saw his second-half penalty saved by Emiliano Martinez.

The surge allowed Villa to put Ross Barkley ahead with a header in the 77th minute, and Donyell Malen completed the scoring five minutes later.