Sheffield United 3-3 Blackpool: Match descends into chaos, ending with four red cards and a mass brawl

CNN
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Where to start in a match such as this? The 98th-minute equalizer, or the four red cards? The missed penalty or perhaps the mass brawl?

There was little time to take a breath at Bramall Lane as Sheffield United and Blackpool drew 3-3 in a thrilling English Championship match.

Oliver Norwood scored the stoppage time leveler for United just when Blackpool thought it had done enough to secure a comeback victory after going 2-0 down in the first half.

After going 3-2 up with goals from Jerry Yates (2) and Kenny Dougall, Blackpool rode its luck with Rhian Brewster missing a penalty in the 88th minute.

That came after the visiting team was reduced to nine men after the sendings off of Marvin Ekpitete (78th minute) and Dominic Thompson (81st minute).

Matters got even more frantic after the final whistle when Blackpool’s Shayne Lavery and United goalkeeper Wes Foderingham were shown red for an altercation which had both players on the ground. That made it four red cards in the final 20 minutes with both sets of players involved in a chaotic melee at full-time.

“It’s not the scenes you want to see at the end of a game,” former Tottenham defender Michael Dawson said on Sky Sports.

Per PA Media, Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom said: “Lavery has come and grabbed Wes to keep him out of the way and as Wes has spun, they’ve both grappled each other and just fallen over.

“They didn’t seem to think anything had happened but obviously the referee has seen two lads on the floor and he’s thinking that they’re fighting. We’ll have to have a look and see what we do about it.”

“It’s easy saying people have got to keep their control,” Blackpool manager Michael Appelton told the BBC.

“But when it happens so quickly and suddenly towards the end of the game, I felt I needed to have my say with the referee.

“I did have my say because I was disappointed. I thought they [the officials] had a poor day.”