Alan Pardew today accused broadcasters ESPN of blowing the incident out of proportion.
Alan Pardew: “I thought it was unfair.
“The guy was coming towards him and he was trying to keep him away.
“There’s no malice in that.
“I’m disappointed that the TV highlight that, I really am.”
El-Abd: “Yohan is not that type of person. Perhaps there wasn’t enough incidents in the game and they wanted to try to find something.
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s done nothing wrong.”