One or two overreacted here.
Norwich City hosted Sunderland in the early Premier League game on Saturday, with the game acting effectively as a relegation play-off.
It’s highly unlikely both of these teams will avoid the drop, with four points between the two before kick-off, and understandably tensions were high in the early stages of the game.
After four minutes, Norwich defender Robbie Brady robustly challenged DeAndre Yedlin, shoving the Sunderland full-back in manner we see in football matches at all levels, all the time.
Unfortunately for the Sunderland full-back, this innocuous shove was about to send him sliding into the advertising hoarding.
And all hell was about to break loose on the team benches.
First, a Sunderland coach took issue with Brady’s shove.
And Sam Allardyce wasn’t happy either.
Cue melee.
Big Sam and Norwich forward Cameron Jerome got into a shoving match of their own, expletives flew and everyone, particularly the Sunderland manager, seemed to lose their head.
Everyone except John O’Shea, who acted as peacemaker.
Brady went to check on Yedlin, who seemed fine despite the collision, and played on. No-one was booked for the incident.
We get the impression this wasn’t Big Sam’s first melee.
