Saturday 21 March 2015 15:05, UK
Referee Neil Swarbrick wrongly sent off West Brom’s Gareth McAuley in another case of mistaken identity in the Premier League.
McAuley was shown a straight red card in the second minute of their clash at Manchester City, seemingly for the foul committed by Craig Dawson on striker Wilfried Bony as the last defender.
Bony robbed the ball legitimately from Dawson and was clean through on goal before he was pulled back and tripped by the centre-back.
Swarbrick let play continue but stopped proceedings seconds later after Bony lost his advantage, and then showed McAuley - who was protesting with the referee along with several other West Brom players - a straight red card.
West Brom questioned Swarbrick's decision on their official Twitter feed, posting: "2' RED CARD: Gareth McAuley is wrongly sent off for Albion after Craig Dawson commits a foul on Wilfried Bony."
Swarbrick is understood to have admitted at half-time that he saw McAuley's No 23 shirt in the aftermath of the incident - leading to his dismissal of the wrong man.
Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher reacted on Twitter, insisting referees "needed help".
"Another case of mistaken identity in a sending off in today's game at the Etihad," Carragher posted.
"Referees need help! We need technology in the biggest sport in the world!! How long do we have to wait?
"Goal line technology has helped the game but came too late. I would start with mistaken identity for red/yellow cards a monitor for the fourth official or the match assessor upstairs to help one of their colleagues.
"The referee must know from the players' reaction he's made a mistake but can't be seen to change his decision - that must surely affect the rest of his performance?
"We can then see how far we can take technology but we have to start somewhere. West Brom won't have anyone suspended now either!"
Saturday's incident comes just weeks after Sunderland successfully won an appeal against the “wrongful dismissal” of Wes Brown during Sunderland’s defeat to Manchester United on February 28.
The referees association was forced to dispute claims that official Roger East sent off Brown when he actually should have dismissed John O’Shea, who committed a foul on Radamel Falcao in the box that resulted in Wayne Rooney converting a penalty.
A statement from the body, which manages Premier and Football League referees, on March 1 said: “As he thought Brown made a foul on Radamel Falcao, as he was in the act of shooting, he dismissed Brown.”
But East admitted that he sent off the wrong player for former Sunderland boss Gus Poyet, who, after winning the appeal, said: “Everyone was very honest, the referee and the referee's association the FA and the Premier League and that's what we want. We want to live by the rules.”