After action replays and football pundits alike had cast doubt on the sense of the red card decision against Sunderland's Wes Brown on Saturday, during the match against Manchester United, it seems that common sense has at last prevailed. Roger East's decision had been analysed afterwards, with the suggestion that it was actually Brown's teammate John O'Shea who had committed a foul, rather than Brown himself. The Football Association appear to have agreed with that summary of events and have hence decided to rescind the red card.

The FA statement said that: "An independent regulatory commission has upheld a claim of wrongful dismissal.

Therefore, his (Brown's) one-match ban has been withdrawn with immediate effect." The retraction of the punishment seems sensible given the television picture evidence that many people have seen since, which suggested quite clearly that former United player O'Shea had been the man to commit the foul on current Red Devil's striker Radamel Falcao. Brown was running alongside O'Shea at the time and there appeared to be minimal if any contact with him, after the initial tackle.

This form of retrospective action does not of course have much of a bearing on the match in question though, which United won 2-0 to enhance their chances of a top four finish in this year's Premier League competition, with the potentially highly lucrative bonus from Champions League participation next season that would entail.

The Black Cats would probably have been reduced to ten men anyway, with O'Shea most likely to have been the man to go instead, without the case of 'mistaken identity'.

United defeated Gus Poyet's side thanks to two goals from England captain Wayne Rooney, the first from the penalty spot after the Falcao foul on 66 minutes, the second against the ten men only six minutes from time. It prompted former England striker and Match of the Day lead presenter, Gary Lineker to tweet: "If Van Gaal had played Rooney up front all season I suspect he'd have his 20 goal a season striker."