'Glaring one' - Sky Sports pundit claims Sunderland 'got away with' contentious moment in Sheffield United win

Sky Sports pundits Curtis Davies and Luke Chambers have suggested that Sunderland were fortunate not to concede a second penalty during their vital 2-1 win over Sheffield United on Wednesday evening.

The Black Cats had to rely on an Anthony Patterson save from a Kieffer Moore spot kick to maintain parity partway through the first half at the Stadium of Light after Luke O’Nien was penalised for pulling the Blades striker down by his shirt inside the box. From there, Sunderland took the lead courtesy of Eliezer Mayenda’s cool finish, before the visitors equalised via an O’Nien own goal. Wilson Isidor would net what would prove to be an eventual winner for Regis Le Bris’ men three minutes later.

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In the second half, Sunderland relinquished a lot of possession and territory to United without every coming overly close to squandering their lead. There was, however, an incident in stoppage time during which a number of Black Cats defenders tangled with their corresponding attackers from a Blades corner, with Aji Alese and the aforementioned O’Nien both getting particularly physical with their opponents.

And while the referee did not see fit to award a second penalty of the contest, pundits Davies and Chambers felt that on another day, Sunderland could easily have been punished. Speaking after the final whistle, Davies said: “I think if you think of the first penalty and the holding, it's not too dissimilar what's going on here.

“It's like a Royal Rumble, to be honest. You know, you see here, Kieffer Moore is getting his shirt grabbed fully. There's [Anel] Ahmedhodzic, he's getting his shirt grabbed. You see Luke O’Nien’s got [Ryan] One in a headlock.

“If the first one is a penalty, I don't know how these aren’t. But unfortunately, referees are going to see it just as a group melee, rather than seeing it as clear and obvious. And like I say, I think some of those are worse than Luke O’Nien’s in the first place.”

Chambers added: “There's two or three in there, isn't there? But that's the Championship in a nutshell - 92nd minute, the ball's on top, there's bodies on the line. Sometimes you have to defend like that. It's not the way you want to defend - and if you're on your own in a five-yard space, it's going to get seen - but when there's so many bodies, and it's both ways at the end of the day. The glaring one is Luke O’Nien getting someone around the back of the neck, but they've got away with it, and that's how they've defended their 2-1 lead.”