Got the wrong man? We look at when referees punished the incorrect player

There appeared to be a case of mistaken identity at the Etihad on Saturday, when referee Neil Swarbrick sent off Gareth McAuley for Craig Dawson's foul on Wilfried Bony.

Earlier this season, ref Roger East seemed to make a similar error at Old Trafford, when he dismissed Wes Brown for John O'Shea's challenge on Radamel Falcao. East later claimed Brown had indeed fouled the Manchester United striker but the player's red card was eventually rescinded. 

Here, we look at some other instances when the referee has punished the wrong man…

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs, Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal

When Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain produced a save any goalkeeper would be proud of and handled Eden Hazard’s shot, it seemed the Arsenal midfielder was heading for an early bath. Instead, team-mate Kieran Gibbs was shown a red card by Andre Marriner – despite Oxlade-Chamberlain admitting to the ref it was him who handled the ball.

Initially the red card was passed on to Oxlade-Chamberlain but Arsenal argued he had not prevented a goal-scoring opportunity as Hazard’s shot was going wide. In the end neither player was punished.

Fabio and Rafael da Silva, Barnsley 0-2 Manchester United

In fairness to Chris Foy, Fabio and Rafael da Silva are twins, but nonetheless, the referee got the wrong man when he booked the former for a challenge on Jamal Campbell-Ryce in this 2009 League Cup contest.

A late trip by Rafael earned his brother a yellow card but, after an appeal from Manchester United, the booking was eventually transferred to the true offender.

Stephen Warnock and Stylian Petrov, Everton 1-1 Aston Villa

Aston Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov initially escaped punishment for a foul on Yakubu against Everton in 2009. Referee Lee Probert instead brandished a yellow card in the direction of Petrov’s team-mate Stephen Warnock.

However, the booking was eventually transferred to the Bulgarian – and Petrov promptly picked up another yellow in his next match against West Ham. The subsequent offence was his fifth caution of the season and saw him banned for one match.

Sergei Ignashevic and Pontus Wernbloom, Man City 1-2 CSKA Moscow

“Getting the wrong man for a yellow card…it’s laughable,” said Man City captain Vincent Kompany, after referee Tasos Sidiropoulos booked Sergei Ignashevic after Pontus Wernbloom had pulled back Sergio Aguero.

Wernbloom had already been booked and Kompany was incensed he wasn’t sent off – but ref Siriropoulos revealed in his report he’d actually booked Ignashevic for dissent. City had two players sent off in the same match.