A MASSIVE brawl erupted during the closing stages of Swansea’s clash with Preston.
The Championship game had been full of action before the mass melee late on.
Preston were threatening to mount a comeback from three goals down when Swansea’s Jay Fulton went down nursing an apparent head injury in the final minutes of regulation time.
However, Swansea were left unhappy play had carried on rather than allow for Fulton to receive treatment, with the already substituted Joe Allen, in particular, voicing his displeasure.
His protest in front of the visitor’s dugout prompted a response before he was shoved by Preston boss Ryan Lowe.
Ex-Liverpool star Allen then reacted by barging into Lowe before numerous others got involved.
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Allen and Lowe were subsequently sent off in the 90th minute, with Lowe declining to speak to the media after the game.
On the incident, Swansea manager Russell Martin said: “It can be avoided. Ryan pushes Joe and chaos ensues.
“I’ve watched it back, I don’t think it’s pretty for anyone. Our job as a group of staff is to get players away from it. The situation could have been avoided, twice probably. It is what it is.
“When people are so passionate and care about what they’re doing, sometimes it boils over.
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“I don’t judge anyone for that, but it is a disappointing thing to happen.”
Swansea would go on to score a game-killing fourth deep into stoppage time to boost their promotion hopes.
And Swansea fans were left loving Allen and Co after the game.
Taking to social media, one fan summarised the crazy match, saying: “Three nil up. 3-2 up against it. Ball boy throwing the ball away. Dodgy Ref .
“Club Legend starting a 30-man brawl. Scoring a last-minute winner to seal the three points.
“If you didn’t love that there’s something wrong with you 😂.”
A second declared: “I love this football club.”
A third typed: “Joe Allen masterclass, and a scrap to top it all off. some boy.”
A fourth joked: “Three points, Joe Allen goal, Joe Allen assist, Joe Allen starting ww3 and entering the playoff race????”
“Joe Allen is my hero,” declared another.
However, one Preston fan hit back, saying: “The professionalism of the Swansea players at the end/for the last goal was abysmal.”
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A second added: Just when we get going the professionalism goes out the window. Swansea you should be ashamed of yourself, that was shockingly poor.”
Meanwhile, Preston missed the chance to move to within a point of the Championship play-offs after failing to earn at least a point.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
