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Sunderland will appeal the controversial red card shown to defender Wes Brown in Saturday's 2-0 Premier League defeat at Manchester United. Brown was sent off by referee Roger East at Old Trafford when television replays showed it was teammate John O'Shea who should have been dismissed. Sunderland confirmed their intention to appeal on the club's official website and have until 1 p.m. GMT on Monday to lodge the appeal. Brown was penalised for a foul in the area on Radamel Falcao, although the offence was committed by O'Shea. Brown was on the scene but made no contact with the United player. Wayne Rooney scored the resulting penalty to break the deadlock. The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) released a statement after the match insisting it was not a case of mistaken identity and East did in fact mean to send Brown off. East believed he saw contact from O'Shea and Brown on Falcao and sent off the latter as in his view Brown's foul had been the crucial one, the statement said. East came in for fierce criticism on social media and in match reports in the wake of the incident, the latest decision to come under scrutiny following a series of controversial calls in recent weeks. Sunderland boss Gus Poyet was also critical of the decision when asked about it after the match and the club have now opted to try and get Brown's three-match ban overturned.
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