Breaking down the two controversial penalty incidents in Sunderland v Chelsea

It was a tale of two penalties at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland defeated Chelsea to move off the bottom of the Premier League.

First, Cole Palmer saw appeals waved away following a challenge from the side from Sunderland’s Luke O’Nien on the edge of the area.

Then, at the other end, Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey won a penalty when he went down under the challenge of Chelsea’s Levi Colwill.

Referee Jarred Gillett pointed to the spot and Enzo Le Fee converted to give Sunderland the lead and they held on to claim a vital victory.

We break down both incidents, below

Palmer, who was left out of England’s squad by Thomas Tuchel on Friday, had performed some superb skill to make space and dribble towards the box.

He got away from the challenge of Sunderland substitute Jules Ahoka, who had replaced injured captain Granit Xhaka, before O’Nien came in from the side.

O’Nien’s left leg appears to come across Palmer, crashing into him and bringing him down without touching the ball, but referee Gillett waved play on.

The incident was checked by VAR, however, with official Nick Hopton ruling that the contact between O’Nien and Palmer took place outside the area.

Palmer’s momentum meant he went down in the box, but the Premier League Match Centre confirmed that “any contact with Palmer occurs outside the penalty area.”

The Sunderland striker was a handful for the Chelsea centre-backs and Brobbey got a roll on Colwill to drive into the box.

Both players had a hold of each other as Brobbey turned. The Dutchman had his left arm on Colwill’s back while Colwill had his right arm on Brobbey’s shirt.

The contact continued as Brobbey entered the box, but what appeared to trip him up was when his right foot clipped his left and he tumbled to the ground.

The Chelsea players around Colwill immediately appealed, but Gillett pointed to the spot. Colwill may have also clipped Brobbey’s heels, but it was unclear.

Former Premier League referee Darren Cann told the BBC that Gillett was “spot on” to award the penalty, however.

”Brobbey and Levi Colwill were tussling outside the box and then it appeared there was lower leg contact on Brobbey which brought him down,” he said.

“Gillett was in the perfect position to see the infringement and award the penalty.”

Colwill was brought off at half-time, with Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo dropping into defence for Xabi Alonso’s side.

But Chelsea still fell to a fourth defeat in eight Premier League games as they failed to seriously threaten Sunderland in the second half.

The Black Cats had lost five of their previous six in the Premier League to fall to the bottom of the table, but claimed their first win in eight.

It relieves the pressure on under-fire Regis Le Bris ahead of the upcoming international break.