All eyes were on the man in black as another poor refereeing decision became the focal point of Saturday’s game between Manchester United and Sunderland.

Wayne Rooney scored from the penalty spot midway through the second-half after referee Roger East dismissed Wes Brown, and not John O’Shea, for a foul on Radamel Falcao.

Rooney headed home his second of the game on 84 minutes and became the first player in history to score 10 or more goals in 11 consecutive Premier League seasons.

It was United’s 11th win in 14 home league games as they look to secure a top four finish under Louis van Gaal.

But the game was overshadowed by the red card showed to Brown for an alleged foul on Falcao in the box.

The Colombian received the ball in box when O’Shea appeared to pull back the striker who was bearing down on goal.

Referee East showed the red card to Brown and, despite much discussion between the officials and protests from the players, the decision stood. 

“I think they (Brown and O’Shea) are confused,” said Black Cat’s boss Gus Poyet.

“Wes thinks that the referee sent him off because he made contact with Falcao. That’s the problem, the referee saw something that didn’t happen.”

And following last weekends controversial display by Martin Atkinson — who was the fourth official at Old Trafford — in the match between Chelsea and Burnley, Poyet believed that poor referring decisions were overshadowing matches.

He said: “I think the problem we have lately in football, and I’m not just talking about us today, is that we are here always talking about a decision and not talking about the game that we started well. 

“But then we didn’t pass the ball well enough in the second half so we were defending all the time. And if you defend a lot then you are going to make a mistake and concede a goal. Because always something happens.”

After the game a statement was released by Professional Game Match Officials Limited that read: “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.”