Sunderland to appeal Wes Brown red card as referee Roger East insists he did not send off wrong man

Sunderland have confirmed that they will appeal against the red card given to Wes Brown during their 2-0 defeat against Manchester United.

It was initially thought that Brown was shown a red card by referee Roger East in a case of mistaken identity, as it appeared to have been John O'Shea who brought down Radamel Falcao in the area.

However, Gus Poyet, the Sunderland manager, sought to clarify what had happened with the match officials after the game and East claimed that he had sent Brown off because he thought he had made the final contact with the United striker as he prepared to shoot. Rooney scored the first of his two goals from the resulting penalty.

Having studied video footage, they believe that East made the wrong decision, even though he insisted he had seen the incident clearly, which gives them stronger grounds for a successful appeal.

East, who was the subject of a bitter complaint by Stoke City over his handling of their match with Fulham in October 2013, has been widely mocked for supposedly failing to tell the difference between O'Shea and Brown, but he released a statement through the PGMOL insisting that had not been the case

The statement said: "From his position Roger East, the match referee, believed he saw contact from John O'Shea and Wes Brown on Radamel Falcao.

As he thought Brown made a foul on Falcao while he was in the act of shooting, he dismissed Brown. After the incident the match referee consulted with his team of officials but none were better placed to offer guidance."

East was not the only person at Old Trafford on Saturday who appeared to be suffering from temporary myopia. United's manager, Louis van Gaal, was dismissing the theory that his side had won despite playing poorly. "I don't agree that we are not playing good," Van Gaal said. "You cannot be in third place at this moment and be playing badly. That is not possible. In your eyes it is possible."

That United had played badly, however, was not simply the evidence of the questioner's eyes. Any rational analysis would suggest that once again this season, against the least adventurous of opposition, they had stumbled and bumbled their way to three points. It is unlikely that the managers of Newcastle United and Arsenal, their next two opponents, will be losing much sleep after close scrutiny of this match.

This had certainly not been a good day for the much vaunted Van Gaal process. Nor was it one that suggested substantial investment will always yield a return. In need of a convincing display to still the growing murmurs of discontent gathering in the stands, his side had looked woefully short of confidence in the first half.

The first boos were heard as early as the 20th minute when a United corner was cleared and fell to Jonny Evans lurking in the centre circle. Bereft of any forward options from static colleagues, the Irishman passed 30 yards back to his goalkeeper. The jeers were nothing personal (well, not entirely personal). They were symbolic of a philosophical disconnect between team and expectation.

"Attack, attack, attack attack attack," the Stretford End demanded. But the attack looked wretchedly off kilter. Van Gaal had loaded his team with forward runners, but they spent much of the game passing sideways. And in the case of Angel di Maria, generally to a player wearing Sunderland blue.

^{Radamel Falcao won a penalty but was then taken off (EPA)}

The £57 million man looked particularly out of form, giving the ball away with a regularity that appeared contagious. What was surprising about his removal at half-time was that it was not remotely surprising: this was a ghost of the player who had thrilled in the Champions League final last May.

His replacement was Adnan Januzaj, who added a bit of zest to the side, an appreciation that this was one of the more limited teams they would face this season and the surest way to beat them was to attack.

And then there was Falcao. The Colombian had spent most of the first half losing the ball to Brown, then falling over. The Sunderland centre back's dominance over the fading, flailing Falcao was perfect demonstration of United's hollow attacking threat. Then, midway through the second half, just as the low level grumble of frustration in the stands was beginning to coalesce into a growl of dissent, Falcao managed to slip his chains and, thanks to a predatory touch, win his side a penalty. The fact that the spot-kick (beautifully converted by Rooney) coincided with Brown's comically wrongful dismissal seemed the perfect opportunity to let the forward play his way back into form. He had done something right, now he could prosper.

Instead, Van Gaal went ahead with a planned substitution and, before Sunderland could kick off, Falcao was removed. "It was a fantastic action and I told him so. I was very pleased with that," the manager said of Falcao's penalty-winning turn. "But football is not one action. Football is more. I have to take care of the team and I have to win and when I think I have to change a player it doesn't matter who he is I will change him."

Which did not really explain it at all. As a piece of timing, as a piece of man management, it seemed baffling. The game was won, here was the chance to inject some confidence into the player, a chance to show belief that he could be the 20-goal-a-season player the manager wishes for. Instead, it was Rooney who was able to buff up his goal-scoring return. In Falcao's place came Marouane Fellaini, whose first action was to blast the ball high into the stands when played through on goal, thus demonstrating he is less Plan B than Plan Row Z.