What happened in the strange dropball incident during Sunderland's win over Cardiff City explained

It was a passage of play at the Stadium of Light that had everyone scratching their heads.

Sunderland's Romaine Mundle took a free kick, which was deflected out towards the corner flag. With Trai Hume shepherding the ball out for a corner, the referee blew his whistle and stopped the game. A long delay followed, in which a number of substitutions were made. To the frustration of the Sunderland players, when the game restarted it was with an uncontested dropball - Cardiff City goalkeeper Ethan Horvath clearing the ball way up for the field.

So what actually happened?

The Echo spoke to sources with knowledge of the situation after the game to try and get some clarity, and this is what we were told. The game was stopped due to an off-the-ball confrontation between Chris Mepham and Cardiff City defender Perry Ng, who had been grappling for position ahead of the free kick being taken. The referee did not award a foul as he did not deem either to be guilty of misconduct, but wanted to speak to the pair (and presumably prevent any escalation).

As the ball was still in play, the ball was dropped for the Cardiff City player as they had been the last to touch it in blocking the free kick.

Hard not to think Sunderland were somewhat hard done by as they prepared for an attacking corner, but there we have it. All is well that ends well, with a clever free-kick routine allowing them to score the crucial winning goal seven minutes later.

What Sunderland head coach Régis Le Bris said after the game about the incident

"Probably it was something do with Meps and an opposing player, I don't know exactly. I think it was due to this," Le Bris said.

What the law says about restarts (law 8)

PROCEDURE

The ball is dropped for the defending team goalkeeper in their penalty area if, when play was stopped:

- the ball was in the penalty area or

- the last touch of the ball was in the penalty area

In all other cases, the referee drops the ball for one player of the team that last touched the ball at the position where it last touched a player, an outside agent or, as outlined in Law 9.1, a match official. All other players (of both teams) must remain at least 4 m (4.5 yds) from the ball until it is in play. The ball is in play when it touches the ground.

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