Referee Neil Swarbrick has apologised for wrongly sending off West Brom's Gareth McAuley during his side's 3-0 loss at Manchester City.

McAuley was a victim of mistaken identity when he was shown a red card after Craig Dawson fouled Wilfried Bony in the second minute of the Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Swarbrick has now admitted to his error in a statement from Professional Game Match Officials Ltd, the organisation responsible for refereeing appointments.

The statement read: “In the second minute of Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion, referee Neil Swarbrick made a decision to send off Gareth McAuley for a ‘denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity’ offence.

“The referee has confirmed the offence was caused by a different player, which should be addressed now as a case of mistaken identity. The referee has apologised for his error.”

It was the second mistaken identity controversy in the Premier League in space of three weeks and the third in a year after incidents involving Sunderland and Arsenal.

City striker Bony was clean through when he was barged over by Dawson just outside the box. Confusion then followed after Bony attempted to play on and was brought down again, this time by McAuley, inside the area.

But with Swarbrick having already blown his whistle for a free-kick outside the box, it was clear Dawson should have been the recipient of any red card.

The incident sapped West Brom of any ambition and they were comfortably beaten by a far superior City side.