An image from the latest Sunderland match shows that opposition player Ilias Chair was lucky not to be sent off during the game.
In the Championship this weekend, the Black Cats hosted Queens Park Rangers and had to settle for just a point despite leading by two goals for 47 minutes.
Indeed, Ellis Simms and Ross Stewart had fired the hosts into a comfortable lead before halftime. Still, QPR struck twice in the closing stages of the match – with goalkeeper Seny Dieng netting a stoppage-time equaliser – to tie the game.
However, things could have been very different had Chair, who scored QPR’s first, been sent off for an incident earlier on in the match when he seemed to grab Sunderland player Lynden Gooch by the throat – as shown in an image shared to Twitter by Speak Sunderland.
QPR’s Ilias Chair grab Sunderland player Lynden Gooch by the throat in the Championship
TIF thoughts on Sunderland and the incident…
Considering the Black Cats were leading by two goals when Chair made the foul, it’s safe to say that his red card probably would have prevented the comeback that eventually happened.
On top of that, not only was it the 24-year-old who pulled the first goal back for QPR, but he also delivered the corner to set up Dieng for the late equaliser. Chair ended up the game with one goal and one assist, picking up an 8.0 match rating on SofaScore – evidently having a major impact on proceedings.
However, when you consider the fact that he grabbed Gooch by the throat, it’s clear that he should have been sent off. Taking that into account, a number of Sunderland fans will probably be feeling pretty hard done by right now.
Was Ilias Chair fortunate to avoid a red card in the Sunderland clash?
Yes
No
