Marco Gabbiadini says ‘lucky’ Sunderland man ‘should’ve been sent off’ vs Norwich over 39th minute incident.
Sunderland’s game against Norwich City last time out was a very hard-fought one, with plenty of yellow cards and even a red card in the game.
Sunderland came from behind to beat Norwich City at the Stadium of Light in their last outing, marking back-to-back wins for Regis Le Bris’ side who remain in 4th place of the Championship table.
It was certainly a tough game in tough conditions for the Black Cats. Norwich City’s Borja Sainz frustrated Sunderland fans with his trickery and his dramatics during the game, though it was Jose Cordoba who was sent off.
Soon after, Jobe Bellingham scored the winning goal and he impressed once again. But referee Leigh Doughty stole a lot of the attention on Saturday afternoon.
He dished out 10 yellow cards in total, along with one red, in a game that became very heated and stop-start at times.
And pundit and former Sunderland man Marco Gabbiadini believes one Black Cats star was lucky not to have been sent off during the game.
Marco Gabbiadini verdict on Luke O’Nien incident vs Norwich City
Luke O’Nien was one of the Sunderland players who went into the book on Saturday. In the 39th minute, O’Nien put his arm into the face of Sainz who went down.
Speaking on Total Sport, Gabbiadini believes that was actually a red card incident. He explained: “I thought Luke O’Nien should’ve been sent off before half-time.
“I thought he put his arm straight in the face off Sainz… he was just causing trouble all over the place. I thought Luke O’Nien was very lucky not to get penalised for that, so we got away with one maybe.”
The 30-year-old O’Nien has only received three yellow cards this season, having not been sent off for Sunderland since the 2022/23 season.
Luke O’Nien could be in line for starting spot vs Blackburn Rovers
Sunderland head to Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day and it could be a game that O’Nien starts.
Dennis Cirkin struggled against Norwich City, having not looked the same since surgery to repair his broken wrist.
O’Nien could be a good candidate to step in at left-back having started the Norwich City game at right-back owing to a late bout of illness for Trai Hume.
Again this season, O’Nien is showing his versatility and his quality. But maybe he had a lapse of concentration against Norwich and got lucky with that Sainz incident.
Le Bris will hope the Blackburn game is less scrappy. Though with Rovers bang in form it’s going to be a very tough game.
