A Sunderland friendly against Al-Shabab out in Dubai very nearly gets abandoned as players take to scrap with each other.
The friendly was not taken lightly. Elliot Embleton grabbed possession in a hazardous area and forced the keeper to make a smart save with a bending effort from the edge of the box early on.
Embleton upped the temp ten minutes later as he received an arrowed ball from Corry Evans, set himself before bending another shot that clipped off the underside of the crossbar.
Tony Mowbray’s team got the only goal of the game, coming in halfway through the first half. Abdoullah Ba’s pass to Amad allowed him to score in front of the Al-Shabab defense. He saw his shot beat his opponent, allowing the Ivorian to slide the ball into the net.
Amad nearly got the Championship club a second, when he rode two challenges. He also slipped in Ellis Simms on a charge, but the number 9 lifted his efforts too high.
Mina’s was within inches of equalising with the final kick of the first period as his bend-free-kick touched the top of the crossbar.
Sunderland made nine changes at the interval. Although Leon Dajaku managed to break into the box, his poor drive was saved. Alex Pritchard struck a free kick right at the box’s edge, just moments later. It was extremely close to the bar.
The match soon became about an ugly bust-up with Lynden Gooch among those seen fighting with Al-Shabab’s players.
The fight escalated with more players getting involved and it resulted in Sunderland co-owner Juan Sartori making his way onto the pitch to try and restore some peace and order, with some Black Cats footballers seen walking off the pitch in the aftermath.
Sunderland Echo write that tensions was building during the first half, with goalscorer Amad hacked down ‘by a horrible scissor tackle’ after 30 minutes.
Five minutes before half-time striker Ellis Simms was booked following a class with an Al Shabab player, which led to a pushing and shoving match
Gooch clashed with his opponent four minutes after the restart, then with over 10 minutes left, both sets of players came to blows in a fight that almost saw the match end early.
Sunderland’s Dennis Cirkin was on the end of a challenge late by an Al-Shabab player – only for the referee to give Al-Shabab a free-kick, which left the Black Cats furious.
Gooch legged it over to argue the call with the ref but Gooch was confronted by an Al-Shabab player, leading to more heated scenes. Sartori and Sunderland’s backroom staff quickly raced onto the pitch to try and diffuse the situation.
Al-Shabab presented a number of difficult and physically demanding challenges that caused tempers to flare. Lynden Gooch and a member of the Saudi team were given red cards.
However, after a brief pause the officials decided to continue the game after consulting with several sets of coaches.
Sunderland players fighting alshabab players. #SAFC pic.twitter.com/x7waOhDd7v
— GILESY (@GILESY1973) November 25, 2022
Sunderland held on for a win to cap off a hard working week in Dubai before their fixture schedule resumes next weekend.
Sunderland first half XI: Patterson, Hume, Batth, Alese, Huggins, Evans, Ba, Roberts, Amad, Embleton, Simms
Sunderland second half XI: Bass, Gooch, Batth, O’Nien, Cirkin, Neil, Matete, Roberts, Pritchard, Clarke, Dajaku
Injured duo Ross Stewart and Dan Ballard missed out on the clash before Amad’s goal won the game for Sunderland
Lynden Gooch said before the game: “It’s been good on a personal note to be back training with the team. I was out for five weeks so I’ve been trying to get back into the swing of things and get fit.
“I feel fit and it is all about getting touches on the ball. Just to get that rustiness away and get ready for next week when we get home.
“Get some minutes into the legs, which is obviously ideal for myself and everyone else who has had a week off. It’s going to be tough in this heat but it will be good in the long run for us.”
Many will recall how Sunderland tackles got Jose Mourinho marching onto pitch demanding a red card mid-friendly earlier in the summer.
Roma boss Jose Mourinho entered the pitch and demanded a red card be shown during his side’s friendly match against Championship outfit Sunderland.
In what was a bizarre encounter between the Europa Conference League winners and a side who have just been promoted to the English second tier, Mourinho’s Roma side came away 2-0 winners.
But the moment of the match came when Jose stormed onto the pitch to demand a red card be shown to Black Cats player Luke O’Nien.
Around the 40th minute mark, with the game at 0-0, O’Nien was deemed to have put a challenge on Roma player Roger Ibanez, this angered Mourinho and his staff as they entered the pitch whilst Ibanez was being attended to by the medical team.
According to The Mirror, the reason why Mourinho entered the pitch was to demand O’Nien be sent off, something the Sunderland avoided.
O’Nien was only showed a yellow card but was eventually substituted to prevent him getting a second booking.
Jose Mourinho entered the pitch and demanded a red card be shown to Luke O’Nien pic.twitter.com/6XcJjEBwps
— Macca (@sunderlandafc11) July 13, 2022
Twitter users reacted as a Sunderland friendly in Dubai nearly gets abandoned as players scrap with each other…
@WestSussexSAFC: Ha’way the Lads 👊
@emilyxfraser: Gooch hates the Saudis x
@Andy_JGordon: Nice relaxing warm weather training camp then 😭
@swainsto4: This is the fight I wanna see in my team, no letting any team mates get pushed over
@Ramma_____: Fair play to the ethical & mighty Sunderland for fighting the human rights abusers while other north east clubs stand idly by & show solidarity by waving the Saudi flags!
@SAFC__73: Dajaku – soft as shite.
@DomZvirblys: Good job he’s not a boxer then
@MackemLatest: Wasn’t expecting to see Lynden gooch Full on chin a bloke but oh well not complaining
@Jordanst92: Get in to the geordie cunts
@KieranPGB: Patrick Roberts gets dropped like a bag of shit 😂😂😂 GIIIIT UP THE SAUDI BOYSSS 🇸🇦⚫️⚪️
@KINGST3WART: Showing some passion. LOVE IT
@MattySunlun: The lads love a scrap
@jayellcs: Gerrin
@Capt_Fishpaste: Farce from start to finish.
@Jasonbrahhhh: Hahaha yes Gooch
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