Sunderland came from behind to defeat Norwich City on Saturday afternoon.

Former Sunderland striker Marco Gabbiadini believes Black Cats defender Luke O’Nien was fortunate not to be sent off against Norwich City over the weekend.

Referee Leigh Doughty issued the 30-year-old one of ten yellow cards, while Canaries centre-back Jose Cordoba was also sent out for two bookable offences. Gabbiadini believes O’Nien was fortunate not to face disciplinary action after an incident involving Championship leading scorer Borja Sainz, despite previous warnings.

On BBC Radio Newcastle’s Total Sport, the Sunderland icon stated, “I thought Luke O’Nien should have been sent off before half-time.” He appeared to directly confront Sainz with his arm. He was just generating problems all over the place. I think Luke O’Nien was quite fortunate not to be punished for that, so we may have gotten away with one.”

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Sunderland fell behind against Norwich for the fourth time in a row, but Dan Ballard and Jobe Bellingham scored in the second half to secure a 2-1 victory for Regis Le Bris’ side.

Reflecting on the Black Cats’ comeback after the match, O’Nien himself said: “Listen, the way we play, there’s never times when it feels like you need to change a lot, but it’s minor changes here and there, like if you’re talking five yards with different individuals. We made a few modifications, including becoming significantly more aggressive with the press. I believe the momentum of the wind was pushing towards their goal, therefore it was played equally.

“We made a couple of changes, nothing major, but I thought we were fairly dominant in the second half, had a lot of momentum, and, yes, it was a terrific second half for us. I can’t recall past games, so I’m not sure how many we’ve drawn or won. “It’s just game by game.”