CIARAN CLARK’S SOJOURN to Saudi Arabia ended poorly: he was sent off for punching an opponent in a training game against Al-Ittihad.
Newcastle are spending this week training in the land of their owners, and the camp included a 70-minute, behind-closed-doors training game against the current leaders of the Saudi league.
Saudi dignitaries attended the game and, unfortunately for Clark, as did someone with a smartphone, who posted video of the incident. Having miscontrolled the ball, Clark became embroiled in a clash with Abderazak Hamdallah after which the referee sent both players off.
Ciaran Clark sent off for punching a player in yesterday's friendly pic.twitter.com/dGyk1vIq5k
— Rep of Ireland Player Tracker (@RepTracker) January 29, 2022
Both players evidently got over their differences, and posed for photos together after the game.
“Both sides were very keen to play the game in the right spirit”, said Eddie Howe after the game.
“I thought there was a couple of difficult moments for the referee. There was no need for the red card, I thought he could have dealt with it in a different way but by the book it was probably the right decision.”
In spite of Clark’s sending off, Newcastle won the game 2-1. Jeff Hendrick earned a rare start in the game.
